Laura van der Heijden (born 7 April 1997) is a British cellist. She won the 2012

BBC Young Musician of the Year BBC Young Musician is a televised national music competition broadcast biennially on BBC Television and BBC Radio 3. Originally BBC Young Musician of the Year, its name was changed in 2010. The competition, a former member of the European Uni ...

competition. Born in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, England, Van der Heijden is the youngest daughter of a Dutch father and Swiss mother. Her musical studies began at age 4 on recorder, then piano at age 5 and cello at age 6. In 2005, she joined the junior department of the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

, where she studied piano under Emily Jeffrey. Her first public performance was at age nine with

Forest Row Forest Row is a village and a large civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is located three miles (5 km) south-east of East Grinstead. History The village draws its name from its proximity to the Ashdow ...

's Jupiter Chamber Orchestra. She has been a pupil of

Leonid Gorokhov The Russian-born British/German cellist Leonid Gorokhov (born 1967 in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad) studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, St. Petersburg Conservatoire with Anatoli Nikitin and took part in masterclasses with Daniil Shafran. Wi ...

since 2008. In 2010, Van der Heijden won the ''Erster Preis mit Auszeichnung'' (first prize with distinction) and a special prize in the final of the Swiss National Youth Music Competition, which led to her performing the Boccherini Cello Concerto in G with the

Zurich Chamber Orchestra The Zurich Chamber Orchestra (Zürcher Kammerorchester; ZKO, German abbreviation) is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Zurich. The ZKO's principal concert venue in Zurich is the Tonhalle. The ZKO also performs in Zurich at the Schauspielhaus Zü ...

at the Zurich Tonhalle in January 2011. She was also the 2011 winner of the Marjorie Humby competition at the Royal College of Music and was awarded the 2012 Director's Prize at RCM Junior Department. Van der Heijden won the

on 13 May 2012, where in the final round, she played

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

's Cello Concerto with

Kirill Karabits Kyrylo Karabych ( uk, Кирило Карабиць); born 26 December 1976) is a Ukrainian conductor. Biography Early Life Karabits' father was the conductor and composer Ivan Karabyts. Karabits was born in Kyiv (then in the Ukrainian SSR o ...

and the now

Royal Northern Sinfonia Royal Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, founded in Newcastle upon Tyne and currently based in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave most of its concerts at the Newcastle City Hall. Since 2004, the ...

, on a 1911 Celeste Farotti cello loaned to her by Gorokhov. Van der Heijden currently plays on a late 17th Century cello made by

Francesco Rugeri Francesco Rugeri (Cremona, 1628; 28 October 1698), also known as Ruger, Rugier, Rugeri, Ruggeri, Ruggieri, Ruggerius, was the first of an important family of luthiers, the Casa Rugeri in Cremona, Italy. His instruments are masterfully constructe ...

of Cremona. She previously performed on a 1935 cello by Galileo Arcellaschi and a 1987 cello by Colin Irving. She became an Ambassador for Children & the Arts in January 2013. In 2018 she released her debut album entitled ''1948''. Van der Heijden graduated from St John's College, Cambridge in 2019. On the 18th of February 2022, she released her latest album ''Pohádka: Tales From Prague To Budapest'' with the pianist Jâms Coleman, on the Chandos Label. She lives in

, East Sussex.Cellist wins BBC Young Musician 2012
Retrieved 27/4/21.

References

External links

Official website of Laura van der Heijden

BBC Young Musician page on Laura van der Heijden, 2012

Helen Neilson, "Interview with Laura van der Heijden". London Cello Society, August 2012

Jane Shuttleworth, "Britain's Got Talent: Young Musician of the Year 2012". Bachtrack.com, 14 May 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heijden, Laura van der 1997 births Living people English people of Dutch descent English people of Swiss descent People from West Sussex Alumni of the Royal College of Music Women cellists 21st-century English musicians 21st-century classical musicians 21st-century English women musicians People from Forest Row 21st-century cellists