Born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, Laryne (Lauren) Williford Monte received her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance from The University of Alabama. During her undergraduate studies, she participated and succeeded in numerous collegiate piano competitions throughout the state. After graduating, Ms. Monte worked at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, AL as a staff accompanist, playing for and touring with the tremendously active concert choir.
Ms. Monte completed her master’s degree in Piano Performance from Western Michigan University in the Spring of 2014, where she received a full graduate teaching assistantship instructing class piano and applied lessons. During the 2014 Irving S. Gilmore Keyboard International Keyboard Festival, she was selected to perform in a master class for Gilmore Artist Ingrid Fliter.
While living in Michigan, Ms. Monte worked in the Gilmore Education Department Piano Labs instructing group lessons to 2 nd -5 th graders, as well as teaching privately at the Crescendo Academy of Music and The Piano Cottage Studios. She was also an adjunct instructor at Lake Michigan College where she taught class piano and applied lessons, introductory theory, and history of rock.
Returning to her southern roots, Ms. Monte is currently a full time instructor at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL. She teaches class piano, accompanies the concert choir and Huntingdon Ensemble, and serves as the department’s collaborative pianist. She also serves as organist and choir accompanist at Memorial Presbyterian Church. She is a devoted pianist and works to perform solo recitals a few times a year.
