Laura Ortman

Ortman was born in Whiteriver, Arizona, United States. Ortman was adopted at birth and grew up in Alton, Illinois. Ortman grew up in a musical family. Her mother, Terri Ortman was a pianist who managed a youth orchestra for 20 years. Her sister played the flute and harp, her brother played the french horn. Her grandmother, Mrs. Hummer was a symphony violinist in Des Moines, Iowa[1] Ortman describes her grandmother as influencing her taste in classical music introducing her to musicians such as Sibelius, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Bartok. As a teen, Ortman was a part of the St. Louis Youth Symphony.

She is a full-blooded White Mountain Apache.[2] In 2001, Ortman reconnected with her birth family in Arizona.[2] The timing was significant as it was one month prior to the 9/11 attack in New York, where Ortman was residing and it was also seven months prior to the death of Terri Ortman, her adopted mother.[2]

Ortman has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Kansas, where she studied drawing, painting, sculpture and performance art.[2]

In 1997, Ortman moved to New York City.[3] After moving to New York she began doing improvisational music for modern dancers, soon attracting the attention of the New York Native community.[2] While Ortman lives in busy Brooklyn, New York, she enjoys nature and walks in Prospect Park, as well as hiking and camping in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains.[2]

Ortman is a solo performer and collaborative artist.[4] Her practise includes recorded albums, live performances, film and artistic soundtracks. Ortman has collaborated with artists such as Nanobah Becker, Martin Bisi, Raven Chacon, Tony Conrad, Martha Colburn, Jeffery Gibson, Okkyung Lee, Caroline Monnet, and Jock Soto.[4] Ortman plays Apache style violin, piano, electric guitar, keyboards, pedal steel guitar, and sings.[4] She has produced field recordings.[4]

• Ortman's webpage