Laurah Merisier is the product of the Florida Public School system and an example of what is possible when students are exposed to quality music education resources. Growing up in South Florida Laurah sang in the choir at Everglades High School in Miramar under the Direction of Shanpatrick Davis, the current Director of Choirs at Coral Reef Senior High School, and took private piano lessons from Broward County local piano educator, Susana Malnati.

Laurah graduated from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music in 2014 with a Bachelor’s Degree of Music in Music Education. Throughout her time at the University of Miami, Laurah was given two opportunities to give back to her community through her love of music. First, as a music mentor with Guitars Over Guns, an outreach program, teaching Hip-Hop Band after school to underserved middle school students. Second, she was a general music teacher with Frost MusicReach, now called Shalala MusicReach, a music outreach organization, teaching music skills after school to underprivileged students throughout Miami-Dade County.

After graduating from UM, Laurah went on to be the Director of Choirs and assistant director of Musical Theatre at Bridgeprep Academy of Arts & Minds, a public arts charter high school in Coconut Grove. She then taught general music to 2nd through 9th grade students at Mater Academy of International Studies in Allapattah. Simultaneously, she taught early childhood music classes through Little Canes, a birth through 5 year old general music program offered by the Frost Preparatory Program at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.

Laurah earned a Master’s degree in Music Education from Florida State University in 2019. Her master’s thesis explored the ways in which the teaching of American patriotic music in our music classrooms shapes patriotism.

Since completing her masters degree, Laurah has been certified in early childhood music education from Kindermusik University and is serving as the Director of Early Childhood Music with The Children’s Voice, a children’s community music education organization in South Miami-Dade county.

Laurah founded Miami Sound Space in 2019, beginning with the flagship program, Miami Sound Choir and in the fall of 2021, adopted the Men’s Choir program at the Everglades Correctional Institution.