Laura Bethany Whitacre is the youngest member of Sorelle. She was born on July 21st, and practically came out singing. Everyone knew from the very beginning that Laura was destined to be a performer. "I began singing at the age of three. I would sing in church or put on ‘concerts’ in my living room as a little girl," she remembers. She was a vibrant and energetic child whose voice was older than her years.
She took her gift for performing into church and school, where she did musicals and joined the choir. She was always singing, and through the constant vocal work she did, she developed her voice into the dynamic sound it is today. In high school she began voice training, as well as dance. She could no longer see herself doing anything as a career but singing. She says, "I have always loved to sing and can honestly say there is nothing else I want to do more." Her soprano voice is edged with a slight grittiness...it is a voice filled with emotion. Her ability to rif and ad lib all over the scale has become a talent by which she is known.
Laura possesses a hunger for music. She ambitiously throws herself into her writing, and she has also decided to learn to play the guitar. As a writer, she has an uncanny ability to express her emotions with an honesty that is heart-wrenching. She is not afraid to try new things musically. In the studio, she is the first to go in and give it her best...she sets the standard for herself and her sisters.
Laura is also highly self-motivated. She homeschools, as this is her senior year of high school. Despite all her seriousness, she is a girl who likes to have fun. "I am often dubbed the ‘Troublemaker’ of the group," she grins. "I love to dance and hang out with my friends. But at the same time, I also like to stay home and watch movies with my mom." She’s addicted to the gym: "I work out and run three miles every day...I have been working out since I was ten years old." And then there’s the fact that she has been cooking since she was eight years old. "I like food...cooking was a natural thing for me to do," she laughs. Still, she swears she is just your average seventeen-year-old. She loves her dogs and cat, gets good grades, and as a native Floridian, she loves the sun. But average? Her voice would say otherwise.
Laura’s never-give-up attitude keeps Sorelle positively motivated in a big way. "Everything we go through takes us closer to where we are supposed to be, and we are constantly learning lessons," she says. "Singing is my life and something I hope to do professionally for the next twenty years of my life and more." She plans to eventually use the opportunities that music will give her to support animal shelters and raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. With the gifts she has been given, her dreams are certain to become reality.
