Lauren Schmidt is a Chemistry and Music major at the University of Virginia. She grew up in Westport, Connecticut and began playing the violin at age 9. Since then, she has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, and Lincoln Center. In 2018, Lauren was the winner of the Staples High School Concerto Competition and performed Lalo’s ​Symphonie Espagnole ​with the Staples Symphonic Orchestra. In addition, she was the concertmaster of the Norwalk Youth Symphony from 2016-2018 and had the opportunity to tour with the orchestra on two occasions, giving concerts in cities throughout Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Lauren is also an avid chamber musician, having been a violinist in the Ariston String Quartet and the Apollo String Quartet, and is currently the violist in the Jupiter Quartet at UVA. She has participated in the Skidmore String Festival and the Chamber Music Institute. Currently, Lauren is a violinist in the Charlottesville Symphony, performs chamber music on viola, and studies violin with Professor Daniel Sender, the concertmaster of the Charlottesville Symphony. Lauren looks forward to continuing to expand her musical knowledge with the help of the Miller Arts Scholars program.