About Me

Laura Mulligan Thomas retired from the Charlottesville City Schools in June 2022 after serving for 40 years as the director of the nationally-recognized Charlottesville High School Orchestra. She came to CHS after graduating with honors from James Madison University in 1982 and began immediately to develop and nourish the orchestra program of eight students she inherited. Today an award-winning group of 100, a number of CHSO graduates are professional musicians who perform with orchestras and pop, rock, and country artists in the U.S. and Europe. Still other alumni have followed in Ms. Thomas’s footsteps and pursued careers in music education. Under her direction, the Charlottesville High School Orchestras consistently earned superior ratings at District Assessments and won top honors at competitive music festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Ms. Thomas is currently the Vice-President of the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association and Instructor at the James Madison University School of Music. She continues her work with the CHSO, now directed by her daughter Emily Thomas Waters, as a volunteer. Ms. Thomas plays piano and cello with several Charlottesville chamber ensembles, and whenever possible performs with her daughter as Maestra Strings and with her three siblings as the Mulligan String Quartet.

Ms. Thomas has received numerous honors for her work with young musicians, including the 2022 Elizabeth A. H. Greene Award from the American String Teachers Association. Ms. Thomas’s 40-year career and retirement were recognized with proclamations by Charlottesville’s mayor, both Virginia’s U. S. Senators, Virginia’s Governor, and the 5th District Congressional representative on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Awards and Honors:

•  American String Teachers Association’s national Elizabeth A. H. Green School Educator Award, 2022
• The Music Education Mentor Award, given by the Virginia chapter of the American String Teachers Association, 2024
• Featured in Best of C-Ville annual publication, 2021
•  Charlottesville Citizen of the Year Award, Charlottesville Rotary Club, 2015
•  Outstanding Music Educator Alumni Award, James Madison University, 2013
•  Featured on PBS’s “Charlottesville Inside Out,“ April 2011
•  Featured in cover photo and article in national School Band and Orchestra magazine, December 2011   
•  Golden Apple Teacher Award, Better Living Foundation, April 2010
•  Received Shenandoah Conservatory’s first graduate Alumna of Excellence award, October 2002
•  Featured in Southern Living magazine, September 2001
•  Featured on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today,” September 2001
•  One of Charlottesville’s Top 25 Citizens, named by Charlottesville Review, 1999
•  Woman of the Year, Virginia Women’s Forum, 1999
•  Outstanding Educator in Central Virginia, Phi Delta Kappa, 1998
•  Charlottesville Schools Distinguished Teacher Award, 1987