Credit: Venetia Jollands

Laura van der Heijden

CELLO
“a superstar cellist comes out of the shadows”

Richard Morrison, The Times


Representation: General Management

Admired for her captivating sonority and creative programming, Laura van der Heijden is renowned for her exceptional talent and musicianship as both a soloist and chamber musician.

Her 23/24 season sees the completion of her year as ‘Artist in Focus’ at King’s Place, London, concerto projects with the CBSO (Haydn D), London Philharmonic Orchestra as well as US touring with Kaleidoscope Collective, chamber projects in Bern with Hyeyoon Park, Arnhem with the Redon Quartet, Lammermuir and Dartington Festivals. Recitals with her long-standing pianist Jâms Coleman include at St George’s Bristol and at the Cello Biennale, Amsterdam.

Recent highlights include touring with the Brno Philharmonic (Martinů), BBC Symphony at the Barbican as part of the George Walker ‘Total Immersion’ project conducted by Alpesh Chauhan, Aurora Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, BBC Scottish with the World Premiere of a new work by Cheryl Frances-Hoad entitled ‘Earth, Sea, Air’. She also gave solo and chamber recitals at the 2023 BBC Proms, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall including alongside Hilary Hahn and Kaleidoscope Collective, Cheltenham Music Festival, Bad Kissingen Summer Festival.

Other performances include concerts with leading orchestras such as Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras, as well as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, European Union Chamber and English Chamber Orchestras, New Zealand Symphony, BBC Concert Orchestra at the 2018 BBC Proms, and with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in the opening concert of the inaugural BBC Proms Australia. She has performed at venues including the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Amsterdam’s Het Concertgebouw, Opernhaus Zürich, Wigmore Hall, LSO St Luke’s, Leeds Town Hall, Usher Hall Edinburgh, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Smetana Hall Prague, Snape Maltings, Saffron Hall, Kings Place and St George’s Bristol. She has made numerous appearances on BBC Radio 3 In Tune, and has worked with such distinguished musicians as Sir Andrew Davis, Karl-Heinz Steffens, Kirill Karabits, Ryan Wigglesworth, Huw Watkins, Krzysztof Chorzelski, the Redon Quartet and the Brodsky Quartet.

Her first album on Chandos Records, “Pohádka” features works by Janacek and Dvorak and was released in 2022 to critical acclaim with further releases including Mozart Piano Quartets with chamber partners Francesca Dego, Timothy Ridout and Federico Colli and ‘Transfigured’ with Kaleidoscope in 2023. Laura was the winner of the BBC Young Musician competition aged 15. Her 2018 debut album 1948 won the 2018 Edison Klassiek Award and the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Newcomer of the Year Award. The disc, featuring Russian music for cello and piano with pianist Petr Limonov, has been hailed as a “a thought-provoking debut disc from an impressive and intelligent young cellist” (Gramophone).

Also a passionate chamber musician, Laura is a key member of the member of the critically-acclaimed Kaleidoscope Collective, who perform a wide variety of captivating repertoire across the UK and beyond. She also regularly collaborates with the likes of Jâms Coleman, Timothy Ridout, Katya Apekisheva and Max Baillie, and has given recitals at the Wigmore Hall, West Cork and Beverley Chamber Music Festivals, Harrogate International Festival, the Cheltenham Festival, Music In The Round, Oxford’s Holywell Music Room and at the Oxford Lieder Festival. In Summer 2023 she will also perfom in the Miesbach Festival, Germany.

Laura is a graduate of St John’s College, Cambridge and currently studying for a Masters with Antje Weithaas at the Hans Eisler in Berlin. She plays a late 17th-century cello by Francesco Ruggieri of Cremona, on generous loan from a private collection.

Artist Website: www.lauravanderheijden.org

Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact James Brown Management to ensure that you receive the most up to date version.  Email: Andrea McDermott

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News

Laura performs Rachmaninoff at the BBC Proms

August 7th, 2023

Cellist Laura van der Heijden performed an enchanting recital yesterday afternoon at Dewsbury Town Hall alongside pianist Jâms Coleman. Repertoire included Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise as well as his magnificent Cello Sonata. The recital also included BBC Proms premieres of Lara Weaver’s ‘A thing that holds’ and Pejacevic’s Cello Sonata. You can listen to this recital onRead more ›

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Laura with Aurora at King’s Place

June 15th, 2023

This Saturday Laura van der Heijden performs alongside the Aurora Orchestra in the second of her three projects as ‘Artist in Focus’ at King’s Place across 2023. Laura performs CPE Bach’s fiery cello concerto, conducted by Nick Collon in a programme that also features Schubert and Ligeti, in the composers anniversary year. Laura’s summer isRead more ›

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Laura performs World Premiere with BBC Scottish Symphony

May 18th, 2023

Tonight celebrated cellist Laura van der Heijden performs the World Premiere of Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s new cello concerto with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow, conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth. Cheryl’s exciting new work takes its inspiration from nature and will be available to stream on BBC Sounds following to its first broadcast next week (25 May).Read more ›

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Laura van der Heijden in Scotland

April 27th, 2023

Tonight, tomorrow and Saturday (27 – 29 April), Laura van der Heijden is in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Under the baton of Mark Wigglesworth, she performs Shostakovich’s Second Cello Concerto. Laura returns to Scotland in May to join the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Ryan Wigglesworth. First, Laura gives the world premiere ofRead more ›

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JBM Artists at the 2023 BBC Proms

April 20th, 2023

Today the BBC announces its annual summer celebration of music at the Royal Albert Hall and other major venues across the UK. JBM are proud to have artists perform in three exciting concerts, with Rachmaninoff featuring heavily in the programmes for the composer’s 150th anniversary year: Sunday 16 July, 11am Benjamin Grosvenor performs a soloRead more ›

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Reviews

Hallé Orchestra, Bridgewater Hall, March 2022

” Still only 24, she now sounds wonderful. This performance of Walton’s Cello Concerto was by turns poised and pert, wistful and lyrical, tautly driven and expansively rhapsodic — but always played with exemplary intonation and technical finesse … I relished a performance that let the music speak for itself, reserving big outbursts of emotion for the two eruptive quasi-cadenzas in the finale.”

Richard Morrison, The Times, ****

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Discography

Pohádka – Tales from Prague to Budapest

Laura van der Heijden (cello) and Jâms Coleman (piano)

CHANDOS RECORDS  (2022)

1948: Russian Works for Cello & Piano

With Laura van der Heijden (cello) and Petr Limonov (piano)

CHAMPS HILL RECORDS (2017)

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Artist Manager

Laura Baker
lb@jamesbrownmanagement.com
+44 (0) 7999 027026

Assistant Artist Manager

Andrea McDermott
am@jamesbrownmanagement.com