By Adam Olenn | June 21, 2012

The songs of performer and educator Laura Vecchione '00 have placed in the Top 5 of the AMA chart and Roots Music Report, been quoted by Marvel Comics, and featured on television shows like Saving Grace and The Glades.

Her debut album Deeper Waters was quickly embraced by XM Radio, and her sophomore outing Girl in the Band was produced by multi-Grammy-winner Jim Scott.

In the run-up to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, she heard an anecdote about the influence of gospel singer Mahalia Jackson on Martin Luther King's iconic "I Have a Dream Speech," and was inspired to write a song about the history of race relations in America, titled "Tell Them About the Dream."

Photo by Brian Kaminski