Laura Gurry: French Teacher

Music was always present in Laura Gurry’s life growing up, from piano lessons to choirs to flute lessons, but she didn’t discover her passion for it until college.

“I really got into music and singing when a friend at freshman orientation said there are these acapella groups on campus and we should try out. I had no idea what a cappella even was, but I went and tried out and I got in. That kind of was the beginning of something that I had no idea would be such a huge part of my life,” Gurry said.

Gurry ended up joining the Connchords, a Connecticut College a cappella group that she participated in for the remainder of her college career. Singing had never been a part of her college plan, in fact, Gurry said she had to give up sailing in order to pursue her a cappella career.

“I was on the sailing team as well my freshman year, and that was kind of my love coming into college; a cappella was not on my plan at all,” Gurry said. “I spent most of my freshman year doing both things and it was just too hard. I eventually dropped the sailing and stuck with the a cappella.”

After graduating, Gurry and alumni formed a group called the “Enchords.” Gurry said they would go caroling around the holiday season to nursing homes and homeless shelters, but their biggest accomplishment was performing twice at Fenway Park.

“Fenway park, Sunday night, Yankees game in 2017 televised on ESPN. We sang the national anthem to a packed Fenway park with everybody on their feet and the energy was just amazing,” Gurry said.

Her favorite song to sing is “The Way You Look Tonight.” It was featured in a lot of rom-coms in the nineties and has a jazzy tune.

Gurry views singing solely as a hobby and has never thought about pursuing it as a career. However, she is hopeful that her daughter will consider that career option.

“I sing very freely in my class; I’ll just sing for anybody. Am I always perfectly on pitch? Maybe, maybe not. But my nine-year-old is taking voice lessons now with a professional from Berklee, and I can hear what her voice sounds like now at age nine versus my untrained voice. If she keeps up the voice lessons, she will do big things with it,” Gurry said.