LAURA YOUNG
Classical Guitar
About Laura Young
Laura Young is a leading classical guitar virtuoso who has received many international awards throughout her career. Born in Toronto, Canada, she began her study
of music at the age of seven, whereupon she fell in love with and dedicated herself solely to the classical guitar.
Upon her debut, the international community immediately recognized her exceptional abilities and musicality, and awarded her with multiple prestigious prizes from such international competitions as the Andrés Segovia, in Palma de Mallorca and the Jacinto e Inocencio Guererro, in Madrid. Laura travelled to Europe at a young age and has since established her reputation as one of the top international classical guitarists in the world.
“Freedom, excitement and delight in the playing"
- Absolute Sound
.jpg)
“Virtuosic brilliance combined with the pure joy of making music…"
- Nurtinger Zeitung
Laura’s unique style and distinctive performance philosophy have prompted
composers from around the world to create daring new music for her.
Her stylistic explorations and expressive innovations are found in her most recent album, "Laura Young Plays Max Reger". In this recording, her dramatic repertoire is presented through her skillful and complex guitar transcriptions of Max Reger’s solo cello suites, violin sonatas and preludes and fugues. The 2018 recording was awarded the highly coveted Pasticcio prize, celebrated by critics and the listening public alike for the deeply personal power and beauty of her sound, depth of colour and exquisite phrasing in her playing.
Laura is renowned for the vast breadth of her repertoire including highly original compositions, many of which are world debut recordings and performances. A significant number of these works are dedicated to
Laura, who is distinguished for pushing at the very limits of the
instrument’s expressive power. She has premiered works dedicated to
her by contemporary composers such as Michael Doherty, Sergio Assad,
Apostolos Paraskevas, Atanas Ourkouzounov and Feliu Gasull,
among many others.
Collaborations
In addition to her solo career, Laura is a prolific chamber music performer. Leading musicians elect to work with Laura not only for her extraordinary virtuosity and artistry, but for the opportunity to create new repertoire and profound new interpretations of music with voice, violin, guitar trio, string quartet, cello, and percussion. She has been a guest soloist with various orchestras and chamber ensembles in Europe and Canada with numerous television and radio broadcasts to her credit.
Some of her most celebrated chamber ensembles include the Trio de Cologne, a guitar trio of which Laura was a founding member along with Zoran Dukić and Pablo Márquez. Numerous composers have dedicated works to the trio including Sérgio Assad, Carlo Domeniconi , Dimitris Kondoyanis, Alan Torok, Siegefeld Rohlof, Ljiljana Jovanovic and Atanas Ourkouzounov.
For decades, Laura has performed with mezzo soprano Frances Pappas in the well-known duo Lagrimosa Beltá. Laura and Frances share a
life-long musical devotion to international folk melodies and poetry. The duo’s recordings showcase their pursuit of lyrical beauty rooted in tradition and history that embrace multiple cultures and periods.
Laura also collaborates with world-renowned baroque violinist Farran James. Together they formed the ensemble Duo Epiphania, which is dedicated to performing a collection of extraordinary musical highlights from original transcriptions of music by Strozzi, Monteverdi, Arvo Part and Bela Bartok. They also premiere original works created for them by contemporary composers Michael Doherty and Apostolos Paraskevas. Their upcoming recording, Passion and Mysticism is set to be released in 2023.