PhD student and international musician joins Birmingham Awards Young Achiever finalists

A PhD student at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has been recognised by the Birmingham Awards 2021 for her contributions to the contemporary music scene.

PhD student, mathematician and international pianist Laura Farre Rozada is a finalist in this year’s Birmingham Awards, joining other influential young achievers from a variety of sectors, including charities and the West Midlands Police.

Laura is no stranger to the awards circuit, winning seven awards back September for her latest record, Nimbus, which has also recently received the prestigious Premis Talent Cambra 2021 Award for music and composition.

Despite being so decorated, Laura says that the recognition by the Birmingham Awards reinforces her connection to the city:

‘It’s been wonderful news, especially because it keeps reinforcing the positive and stimulating opportunities that I’ve had in the city, since I moved in back in 2018. It’s always motivating to receive this sort of recognition.’

Young achiever

Laura’s work across performance, advocacy and composition research has helped cement her place amongst the finalists.

Her work to promote the development of the contemporary music scene by commissioning living composers and premiering their works has introduced new audiences to talents such as Feliu Gasull and Joel Järventausta.

As a Midlands4Cities Scholar based at BCU, Laura’s PhD focuses on developing techniques that help performers memorise complex post-tonal piano music, potentially leading to significant impacts for musicians at all levels.

Laura says her research could lead to reduced performance anxiety:

‘…two collateral benefits of using these strategies could be preventing performance anxiety and possible injuries, since less time would be needed for memorising a piece.’

Combining mathematics and music

Laura’s research has given her a space to combine all aspects of her professional training.

‘The exciting aspect of my PhD is that I have finally found a space in which I can inform my research on piano performance with my training in mathematics. That’s precisely the point of my research, to see which mathematical strategies can be effectively applied to memorising music.’

Further to her research, Laura is currently preparing for the World-Premiere of a commissioned piece from the Israelian/American composers Ofer Ben-Amots, which is inspired by mathematical concepts such as the Fibonacci numbers and the Butterfly Effect.

The Birmingham Awards 2021 takes place on Saturday 27 November, where the winners of each shortlisted category will be announced.