“Byron Fulop Laing brought great agility and sweet burnished sound to the first movement of Lalo’s ‘Symphonie Espagnole.'”
James McQuillen, The Oregonian
Byron Laing has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across the United States and as an orchestral musician in Europe. Byron debuted as soloist with the Oregon Symphony at age 16, and has since performed as soloist with the MetroArts Young Artist Debut Orchestra and the Portland Youth Philharmonic, and won numerous competitions, including first prize at the 2025 Charleston International New Years Competition and first prize at the 2023 National Federation of Music Clubs Collegiate Competition. Byron has appeared as soloist on multiple programs on KQAC AllClassical Portland, and as chamber musician on WFMT Chicago.
As a chamber musician, Byron studied with the Pacifica Quartet in the Advanced Quartet Seminar at Jacobs School of Music, and has performed at the Centrum Chamber Music Workshop in Port Townsend WA and at the McDuffie Center Labor Day Festival. Byron grew up in Portland Oregon where he studied with Oregon Symphony violinist Kathryn Gray and periodically travelled to study with Paul Kantor in Houston. Byron was co-concertmaster of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, performing at the Grant Park Music Festival and on TEDx, and has also worked with Riccardo Muti at the Chicago Youth in Music Festival. Byron has studied for two summers at the Chautauqua Festival and for three summers at the Meadowmount School of Music, both in New York.
From the age of 12, Byron has undertaken specialized study in historical performance, taking masterclasses with Monica Huggett, Jaap Schröer, and Ton Koopman. Byron studied and performed early French and German repertoire under Ingrid Matthews in the Baroque Orchestra at Jacobs School of Music and early Italian repertoire and Handel operas under David Kerr in “I Ragazzi,” a fluid, Portland-based baroque ensemble.
Byron was the Sage Foundation Academy Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy where he studied for two years with Almita and Roland Vamos. He graduated with high distinction from Indiana University in 2022, earning Bachelor’s degrees in violin performance and international studies. Byron studied under a full-tuition Jacobs Scholar Award with Distinguished Rudy Professor of Music Mauricio Fuks, and was also named a Founders Scholar for academic excellence. After graduating, Byron was named the 2024 Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace at the Middlebury German Language School in Vermont.