Staff and Faculty

LaSaundra Booth is a National Board Certified teaching artist, inventor, author, conductor, and arts administrator. Booth was named one of 50 Directors who Make A Difference by School Band and Orchestra Magazine. She has 21 years experience teaching and conducting orchestra at the elementary, middle, high, and collegiate level.  All of her performing ensembles received superior ratings in adjudicated music festivals and competitions.

Booth has a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke University, a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership, a Master’s Degree in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Bachelor of Music from North Carolina Central University. She studied with Dr. Timothy Holley, Alex Ezerman, Jesse L. Suggs, Jr., Kellie Keiser, and Jennifer Wernicke. Booth serves as lecturer of music education at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill and adjunct assistant professor at Shenandoah University.  Booth previously served as Director of Strings at Winston-Salem State University. Booth is also project grant manager for the National Association of Music Education’s Connected Arts (CAN) Network, where she oversees the professional development for a national cadre of  teacher leaders.  This year, she serves as chair-elect for the National Association for Music Education’s Council for Orchestral Education.

Booth is a 2023 graduate of Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women in Business program. She is an alumnus of  Sphinx LEAD (Leaders in Excellence, Arts & Diversity), who is known for anchoring discussions on how to make public school orchestra programs more equitable, diverse, and inclusive to all students. Her most recent speaking engagements include Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege Division, Sphinx Connect, the National Association for Music Education’s Town Hall, and the American String Teachers Association (ASTA). Booth’s dissertation Factors that Influence the Status of K-12 String Orchestra Programs in North Carolina Public Schools was the first of its kind to focus specifically on string orchestra programs in North Carolina.

Booth has a successful history of establishing diverse, equitable, and inclusive programs at the elementary, middle, high school, and collegiate levels. She founded the Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra (2013), a non-profit organization that provides expert orchestral instruction and free instruments to youth where orchestra opportunities are limited or do not exist. In her tenure, Booth has grown the organization from 3 students to over 500 Pre-K through 12th grade students across Wake, Franklin, and Vance counties. In April 2021, Booth received the Vance County Champion of the Arts Award for bringing the first after-school string program to the district.

Booth is an accomplished entrepreneur. She is author of Meals for Musicians: Delicious Meals to Fit Your Busy Lifestyle. Booth was awarded a patent for a device to enhance string instruments (USPTO# 20140260902). She was also featured in the 2008 edition of North Carolina Symphony’s Opus magazine and performed on an episode of One Tree Hill, the WB network’s hit television series. In December 2022, Dr. Booth co-authored, Finding Light in Difficult Times: Responding, Creating, & Protecting Intellectual Property, which is a free resource for Orchestra Teachers commissioned by the Library of Congress and the National Association for Music Education.

Booth is in demand as a cellist and guest conductor. She has performed with Integrity Strings, Cellist Ti Awo, Colour of Music Symphony Orchestra, Greensboro Philharmonia, Raleigh Symphony, Duke Symphony, and Durham Symphony. Her most recent appointments include guest conductor of the Intercollegiate Music Association’s String Orchestra (IMA), conductor of NAfME’s All-National Honors Symphony Orchestra, guest clinician for the California Orchestra Director Association and Washoe County School District High School Honors Orchestra in Reno, NV. Booth served as the inaugural conductor for the 2022 Chamber Orchestra conductor for the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles(YOLA) National Festival. Booth accepted the invitation to return as conductor for the YOLA festival in July 2023. Booth was honored to have Maestro Gustavo Dudamel perform as a section violinist to close out the concert as she conducted Arturo Marquez’s Danzon No. 2.  Booth served as the Orchestra Headliner for the 2023 Northwest Regional Music Educators Association in Bellevue, Washington. Booth’s current conducting engagements for 2024 include the All-Millard Orchestra Festival (January), Georgia All-State Orchestra (February), Minnesota All-State Orchestra (July), Montana All-State Orchestra (October), Las Vegas Honor Orchestra (November), and Guilford County’s All-County Orchestra (November).