In today's episode Hattie speaks with the renowned cellist Laura van Der Heijden. Laura won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Award in 2012 at the age of 15 and since then has gone on to establish herself as a concerto soloist and chamber musician in high demand.

In the episode Laura and I speak about her ongoing struggles with performance anxiety and how debilitating the experience of performing can feel. We also speak about the pressures around winning such a prestigious competition and how Laura believes she made decisions that took into account her desire for longevity as an artist, often turning down opportunities she didn't feel ready for. We also speak about body image within classical music and how Laura has found spaces to be vulnerable professionally, expressing how freeing rehearsing with the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective has been. The recent pandemic saw Laura take a decision to leave cello practice for a time, spending time with her family and exploring different types of music. We speak about how Laura has found new musical life through learning jazz piano and improvisation.

I can't thank Laura enough for giving us her time, vulnerability and warmth and I hope you all enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed speaking with her!

Find out more about Laura and her upcoming projects!

The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective

Things Musicians Don't Talk About website: https://www.thingsmusiciansdonttalkabout.com

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