OUR STORY
Two artists. One musical partnership. A journey spanning classical music, pop, musical theater, education, and the power of storytelling.
PureLand Duo brings together the lyricism and artistry of classical music with the energy, accessibility, and emotional immediacy of contemporary pop. Founded by singer/lyricist Laurie Rubin and pianist/composer Jenny Taira, the duo creates an intimate, genre-crossing concert experience that combines original music, acoustic arrangements of contemporary favorites, and deeply personal storytelling.
Jenny and Laurie met as graduate students at the Yale School of Music and soon began performing together, touring nationally and internationally at venues including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., 92nd Street Y in New York, Ravinia Festival in Chicago, and the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania. Their shared love of contemporary music eventually led them to create PureLand Duo, transforming their classical training and diverse musical influences into a sound that is both sophisticated and immediately relatable.
In 2014, PureLand released the original song and music video “The Girl I Am,” an anti-bullying anthem that encourages young people struggling with identity and self-acceptance to believe that their lives can get better. The project launched PureLand's Voices Against Bullying initiative, through which the duo toured schools and communities, using music and storytelling to inspire empathy, resilience, inclusion, and the courage to find one's voice.
Today, PureLand is equally at home on the concert stage, in schools, and in community settings. Their programs can range from a full concert of original music and contemporary covers to interactive school performances and educational experiences exploring themes of identity, belonging, resilience, and hope.
The duo's artistic work has also grown into larger theatrical projects. Inspired by the young artists they mentor through their Hawaii-based performing arts organization, Jenny and Laurie co-created the musical Peace On Your Wings, based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki, the Hiroshima atomic-bomb victim who became a symbol of peace through her quest to fold 1,000 paper cranes. The musical has been performed throughout Hawaiʻi and on the U.S. mainland, as well as in Fukuoka and Hiroshima, Japan. An upcoming documentary by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock chronicles the musical's connection to Hiroshima and its international journey.
Jenny and Laurie are currently also creating Okinawan Princess, a new musical by Hawaiʻi Poet Laureate Lee Tonouchi, with music and lyrics by an ensemble of Hawaiʻi-based artists. The world premiere is scheduled for March 2027.
After years of touring and performing nationally and internationally, Jenny and Laurie stepped into a new chapter of their artistic lives—building a family, founding and leading a youth performing arts organization in Hawaiʻi, and creating original musical theater. Those experiences have expanded their work as artists and storytellers, giving them a deeper body of original music and a renewed perspective on the themes that have always defined PureLand: connection, identity, resilience, hope, and joy. Now, PureLand Duo is returning to the concert and touring stage with new music, new stories, and a renewed commitment to creating meaningful connections with audiences.
At the heart of PureLand is the connection between the two artists themselves. Partners in music and in life, Jenny and Laurie bring their own experiences, vulnerabilities, humor, and joy to every performance. Laurie is a blind professional singer and advocate, while Jenny is a composer, pianist, conductor, arranger, and educator. Their lives and artistry have taken them across genres, cultures, and communities, giving PureLand a unique ability to connect with audiences on both a musical and deeply human level.
PureLand Duo creates performances that invite audiences to laugh, reflect, sing, and feel—and ultimately to leave with a little more hope, resilience, and joy.