Laura Moody

Laura Moody was born in 1978 and began playing the cello at the age of seven in an attempt to curb her hyperactive behaviour. Having found some composure she went on to graduate from the University of York in 1999 with first class honours in music, and from Trinity College of Music in 2002 having been awarded Distinction for the Advanced Diploma and the Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Prize for cello. While at university Laura was taught by Alexander Baillie and as a postgraduate she studied with Natalia Pavlutskaya. She also had masterclasses with Karine Georgian, Raphael Wallfisch and Paul Watkins. In 2001 she had the privilege of performing for Mstislav Rostropovich on the occasion of his receiving an honorary doctorate from Goldsmith‘s College.
Laura is a member of the innovative string quartet, The Elysian Quartet. The ensemble has given concerts around the world and is fast building a reputation for the quality of performance it brings to diverse and often pioneering repertoire. The quartet has recently performed at the Halifax, Two Moors and Spitalfields Festivals and received much critical acclaim for its sell-out concerts at London‘s Blackheath Halls during its year-long Young Artists residency. The Elysian Quartet is the current holder of the attractively named Bulldog Scholarship, Trinity College of Music‘s chamber music fellowship and bursary award.
In 2003 Laura embarked on a world tour as part of the physical theatre string ensemble ‘The Gogmagogs’. She can be seen playing the cello in every conceivable and inconceivable way as the company tours the U.K. with their show ‘Gumbo Jumbo’ in spring 2004. In the past year Laura has found time, in between performing string quartets and playing the cello upside down in foreign climes, to record with jazz pianist Keith Tippett and perform the Vivaldi Double Cello Concerto with Simon Wallfisch. She frequently returns to the Aldeburgh Festival and the Snape Maltings to perform new chamber works, having been principal Cello of the Britten-Pears orchestra from 2001 to 2003.
Laura lives in South London and spends her spare time learning foreign languages and cooking very hot curries.