Thursday, March 7, 2024, at 7:00 PM
Hybrid in-person / online event
In person: at Amas Studio, 630 9th Ave., Suite 1400, New York City (between 44th & 45th Sts)
Online: On Zoom; click here to join
Composing for Guitar
Laura will be discussing what composing and working with composers has taught her about interpreting other people’s music. She will also give some insights into her own compositional processes, as well as sharing her top tips for those struggling to get started with composition!
The presentation will be followed by our Open Mic. Sign up in advance to play — see the Member Events page for details. NYCCGS Member Events are free and open to all members and first-time guests.
Hailed a “string sensation” by BBC Music Magazine, British-French guitarist and composer Laura Snowden is acclaimed for her “poise and intensity” (Guardian) and her playing of “extraordinary depth” (Strings, Classical Music Magazine). Laura studied with Julian Bream, during which time she gave two concerts at Wigmore Hall featuring premieres of his recent commissions. This led to international recognition and festival debuts across Europe, China, and the United States, as well as concerto debuts with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and Münchener Kammerorchester, and a recording of Lisa Streich’s guitar concerto Augenlider with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester.
As a composer, Laura’s music has been performed at Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Sadlers Wells, commissioned by the Park Lane Group, Birmingham Symphony Hall, and International Guitar Foundation, and broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Scotland, and Hong Kong Radio 4.
Described by Classical Guitar Magazine as “linking guitar’s past, present and future,” Laura’s eclectic musical output has ranged from playing on Lorne Balfe’s sountrack for Marvel film Black Widow to creating guitar arrangements for Noah and the Whale frontman Charlie Fink; she has also given dozens of world premieres by composers including Julian Anderson, Errollyn Wallen, and Olli Mustonen. Laura has collaborated closely with her folk group Tir Eolas; after releasing their debut album Stories Sung Truths Told, the band toured numerous UK shows and festivals including Cambridge Folk Festival, Bestival, and Shakespeare’s Globe at the invitation of John Williams.
Laura’s international concert appearances have included the Guitar Foundation of America, the New York City Classical Guitar Society, the Long Island Guitar Festival, the Upstate New York Guitar Festival, the Altamira Hong Kong International Guitar Symposium, the Uppsala International Guitar Festival, the Volterra Project in Italy, and the Guitar and Lute Festival in Sweden.
Alongside classes at various festivals and universities, she has given classes at the Royal College of Music, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Birmingham Conservatoire, Yale University, the Purcell School, Brussels Conservatoire, Arizona State University, San Francisco Conservatory, Mannes School of Music, and Manhattan School of Music. She held the position of Assistant Guitar Teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School between 2014 and 2020, and currently teaches at the Royal College of Music Junior Department.
Laura was born in York to a French mother and English father, and grew up in Cornwall, Devon, and Sussex with Celtic folk music. At the age of sixteen, she was awarded a scholarship to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School, following a donation from the Rolling Stones; she went on to study at the Royal College of Music. Her guitar is made by Christopher Dean.
