Laura Young
Born and raised in Toronto, Canada of Russian and Irish heritage, Laura Young began her study of music at the age of six and became a dedicated student of the guitar when she was nine years old.
At the University of Toronto, Laura earned her Bachelor of Music degree under the direction of Eli Kassner at the University of Toronto, continued her studies with David Russell and completed them with Hubert Käppel at the Hochshüle in Cologne, Germany.
As a soloist Laura has given widely acclaimed performances around the world:
Alte Oper Frankfurt (Germany), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), National Arts Centre, Ottawa (Canada), Salle Cortot, Paris (France), Teatro IFT, (Buenos Aires), Tijuana Festival, (Mexico), Institut Frances, Madrid, Chappelle St. Louis, Montreal (Canada), Rathaus Aachen, (Germany), Athens, (Greece), Nuertingen Guitar Festival, Iserlohne Guitar Festival, (Germany), Vienciuskerk, Amsterdam, Ijsbreker, Amsterdam, De Schalm, Amsterdam International Guitar Festival, Freschen Guitar Festival, (Germany), Ligita International Guitar Festival, (Lichtenstein) Dillington and Winchester International Guitar Festival (England), Aschaffenburg International Guitar Festival, (Germany), Santo Tirso International Guitar Festival, (Portugal), Canadian Opera Company, Toronto, (Canada) among many others.
Laura has won prestigious prizes at international competitions such as the “Andrés Segovia Competition” in Palma de Mallorca, Spain and the “Jacinto e Inocencio Guererro” in Madrid, Spain, among others.
Laura Young has premiered solo and chamber works by contemporary composers such as: Sergio Assad, Carlo Domeniconi, Atanas Ourkouzounov, Gyan Riley, Feliu Gasull, Jorge Morel, Ferdinand Försch, Apostolos Paraskevas etc.
Laura was a founding member of the Trio de Cologne with guitarists Zoran Dukić and Pablo Marquez, which performed throughout the 1990’s in Europe and the Americas and is still considered one of the most important guitar ensembles.
Since 2010, her principle chamber ensemble has been with mezzo soprano, Frances Pappas in the “Lagrimosa Belta” duo. They have recently recorded ancient Greek, Sephardic and Turkish songs composed and/or arranged for them by Stefan Hakkenberg, Feliu Gasull i Altisent, Helmut Jasbar, including works by Mikis Theodrakis and Dušan Bogdanović.
Other chamber ensembles include working with Clarinetto d’Amore (Lorenzo Coppola) and with Baroque Violin, (Farran James).
From 1997-2001, Laura was the founder and Artistic Director of the Amsterdam International Guitar Festival. In the last year of the festival, students and artists from over 20 countries participated in a week including: Master’s Concert Series, Student Show-Case Concerts, Lectures, resident Composers presenting their solo and ensemble works, Luthier Exhibition, and Master classes.
Laura’s recorded works include: Laura Young Solo, (Clearnote), La Belle Excentrique (Artelier), Juegos del Viento (GHA), Lagrimosa Belta with mezzo soprano Frances Pappas, released in 2014, Laura Young Plays Max Reger, (solo), also released in 2014.
From 2009, Laura has been a Phd Candidate at Leyden University in the Docartes program for Artistic Research. The focus of her work is: “Enhancing musical expressiveness on the classical guitar through the interpretation of selected works from Max Reger’s solo cello and solo violin repertoire; translating musical connections from the expressive interpretive traditions of the voice, violin and cello for classical guitar performance.
Laura is currently professor at the Escuela Superior de Musica de Catalunya (ESMUC) in Barcelona, Spain.