Saturday 26th October 2024, 7.30pm
Laura van der Heijden, cello
Tom Poster, piano
Debussy: Cello Sonata
N. Boulanger: Three Pieces for cello and piano
Beethoven: Cello Sonata no 3 in A major op 69
Wallen: Dervish
Poulenc: Cello Sonata
Admired for her captivating sonority and creative programming, Laura van der Heijden has emerged as one of the leading cellists of her generation. Her first album with Chandos Records, «Pohádka» was released in 2022 to critical acclaim.
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 «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 alongside Tom Poster and Elena Urioste, who perform a wide variety of captivating repertoire across the UK and beyond with highlights this season including the Wigmore Hall and Ryedale Festival.
Laura is a graduate of St John’s College, Cambridge and currently studying for a Masters with Antje Weithaas at the Hanns Eisler in Berlin. She plays a late 17th-century cello by Francesco Ruggieri of Cremona, on generous loan from a private collection.
Tom Poster is a musician whose skills and passions extend well beyond the conventional role of the concert pianist. He has been described as “a marvel, [who] can play anything in any style” (The Herald), “mercurially brilliant” (The Strad), and as having “a beautiful tone that you can sink into like a pile of cushions” (BBC Music).
Tom is co-founder and artistic director of Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, appointed Associate Ensemble at Wigmore Hall in 2020. With a flexible line-up featuring many of today’s most inspirational musicians, and an ardent commitment to diversity through its creative programming, Kaleidoscope broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 and has recently enjoyed residencies at the Aldeburgh, Cheltenham and Ischia festivals. Its debut album for Chandos Records, American Quintets, was awarded Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, and immediately led to an invitation to record a series of albums for the label.
Tom has recorded albums for BIS, Champs Hill, Chandos, Decca, Orchid and Warner Classics, appearing as soloist and in collaboration with Elena Urioste, Alison Balsom, Guy Johnston, the Aronowitz Ensemble, Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and London Symphony Orchestra. He regularly features as soloist on film soundtracks, including the Oscar-nominated score for The Theory of Everything. He studied with Joan Havill at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and at King’s College, Cambridge. He won First Prize at the Scottish International Piano Competition 2007 and the keyboard section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition in 2000.
Tom’s compositions and arrangements have been commissioned, performed and recorded by Alison Balsom, Matthew Rose, Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott. His chamber opera for puppets, The Depraved Appetite of Tarrare the Freak, received an acclaimed three-week run at Wilton’s Music Hall in 2017. He is a lifelong fan of animals with unusual noses.