{"id":45541,"date":"2024-07-25T20:10:41","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T18:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/d8830081-580a-45ba-adb4-4fba0e962f95"},"modified":"2024-07-26T09:54:02","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T07:54:02","slug":"laura-van-der-heijden-the-gifted-thoughtful-and-ever-questing-cellist-who-won-bbc-young-musician-at-just-15","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/laura-van-der-heijden-the-gifted-thoughtful-and-ever-questing-cellist-who-won-bbc-young-musician-at-just-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura van der Heijden: the gifted, thoughtful and ever-questing cellist who won BBC Young Musician at just 15"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 25 July 2024 at 18:10 PM<\/p>

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You may know Laura van der Heijden from the Walton Cello Concerto that won her BBC Young Musician of the Year<\/a><\/strong> in 2012, aged only 15 \u2013 a performance of preternatural poise, intelligence and intensity. Since then, Laura has kept a low profile, eschewing the exposure of other Young Musician winners, some of whom are now first-name brands. <\/p>

Six of the best: BBC Young Musician performances<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>
She has trodden her own path resolutely, studying Music at Cambridge University rather than going to conservatoire, pursuing chamber music and recitals more than the international concerto career she undoubtedly merits, and recently having gone back to study \u2013\u00a0with a violin professor.<\/p>
<\/div><\/figure>Only now, 12 years on from her BBC win, has she finally put <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/walton-william\">William Walton’s<\/a><\/strong> Cello Concerto on record (for Chandos), with Ryan Wigglesworth and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, alongside Frank Bridge\u2019s Oration and a concerto written for her by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/cheryl-frances-hoad\">Cheryl Frances-Hoad<\/a><\/strong>, which she performs in her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/bbc-proms\/2024-bbc-proms-listings\">BBC Proms<\/a><\/strong> debut this month. <\/p>What did it feel like returning to the Walton? \u2018I was definitely most nervous for that piece. We started the recording sessions with it, and because it\u2019s my first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-concerto\">concerto<\/a><\/strong> recording, it was a very different experience to making chamber recordings. And obviously, I put quite a lot of pressure on myself.\u2019<br\/>It is indeed obvious that van der Heijden puts quite a lot of pressure on herself \u2013 it\u2019s a recurring theme in our conversation. (You can also hear her discussing how musicians cope with pressure in a special <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/listen\/podcast\/all-the-right-notes-podcast-how-do-musicians-cope-with-pressure\">BBC Music Magazine<\/em> podcast interview<\/a><\/strong>). <\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-laura-van-der-heijden-on-growing-up-and-finding-her-voice\">Laura van der Heijden on growing up and finding her voice<\/h2>When I ask how she thinks she\u2019s changed as a player since then, she reveals, \u2018Sometimes I look back and think, \u201cWas I better then?\u201d But I think lots of people do that. At different times in your life, you look back and sometimes it\u2019ll be, \u201cI was better then\u201d, or sometimes you\u2019ll have improved. It has so much to do with your mental state while you\u2019re comparing yourself. <\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/science-of-music\/music-and-mental-health\">What science has revealed about the connections between music and mental health<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul>‘Hopefully, I\u2019ve found my own voice more, although to some extent that final was before I\u2019d become self-aware. I was still very open to the world and maybe slightly na\u00efve. I felt quite honestly myself and wasn\u2019t afraid. Pretty much instantly after the final I felt a lot of pressure from myself \u2013 not necessarily from people around me. I felt I had something to live up to. That\u2019s been a long process and I feel I\u2019m just getting started trying to find out who I am as a musician, and to be that as honestly and truthfully as possible.\u2019<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Laura van der Heijden - Tschaikowsky, Rokoko Variationen\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gt0cWAVCy7k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure>Laura van der Heijden has been open about the challenges of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/articles\/dealing-stage-fright\">stage fright<\/a><\/strong>, one of the taboo subjects of classical music, and recording the Walton brought back sometimes painful memories. \u2018With pieces I\u2019ve played since I was that age, I often have more embedded stage fright, whereas I have a different relationship to concertos that I\u2019ve learnt later on. With the Walton, it took approaching it as \u201cadult me\u201d to get past some of those worries. On one hand, physically, it lies in my fingers more, so that\u2019s good, but it\u2019s quite hard to undo some of the fears\u00a0that come with it.\u2019<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/waltons-cello-concerto\">Walton Cello Concerto: a guide to this masterpiece and its best recordings<\/a><\/strong><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-we-exchanged-lots-of-pictures-images-and-stories-about-swifts\">‘We exchanged lots of pictures, images and stories about swifts’<\/h2>Alongside Walton and Bridge sits Frances-Hoad\u2019s new Cello Concerto, \u2018Earth, Sea, Air\u2019, of which van der Heijden gave the premiere last year. She was already a fan of Frances-Hoad, her teacher Leonid Gorokhov having recorded the composer\u2019s Invocation<\/em>, so the two started talking, looking for a concept based around nature. <\/p>\u2018We exchanged lots of pictures, images and stories about swifts. Maybe that explains why I\u2019m so high up \u2013 it\u2019s stratospheric. There were textures I said I loved \u2013 brass stabs, soft <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-tremolo\">tremolo<\/a><\/strong> strings \u2013 and she added those in. There was some back and forth about cello technique, but quite minimal because she\u2019s a great writer.\u2019<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Laura van der Heijden: ‘I\u2019m just getting started trying to find out who I am as a musician’. Pic: Stephane Crayton – Stephane Crayton<\/figcaption><\/figure>Working like this with composers offers surprising revelations: \u2018It shows elements of how they perceive you that you hadn\u2019t realised. This has happened before: a friend of mine, Lara Weaver, wrote me a couple of pieces. I expected both composers to see long, gentle melodic lines as my thing, but their pieces were much stronger than I expected. <\/p>‘I thought, \u201cOkay, you\u2019re seeing me as a feisty person, and I think I\u2019m just melodic lines.\u201d The concerto is also intense and muscular. It\u2019s as much about the composer\u2019s language as the person they\u2019re writing for, but I found that\u00a0an interesting process.\u2019<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-intensity-and-muscle-gentleness-and-melody\">Intensity and muscle; gentleness and melody<\/h2>The intensity and muscle are evident in her Walton, and in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/sergey-prokofiev\">Prokofiev<\/a><\/strong> Cello Sonata from her 2018 album 1948<\/em>. So, however, is the gentleness and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-a-melody\">melody<\/a><\/strong>. Laura van der Heijden does it all \u2013 from fragility to power, introversion to extroversion. Her playing \u2013 just as her conversation \u2013 is deeply thoughtful, personal and sincere. <\/p>Not enough for her, though, which is why she signed up to the class of violinist Antje Weithaas in Berlin: \u2018I went and played to her, and she said exactly the kinds of things that I felt I needed to hear, like, \u201cYou\u2019re not being yourself\u201d, or \u201cThere\u2019s a wall between your feelings and the instrument.\u201d That\u2019s something I\u2019m still trying to work on. People probably wouldn\u2019t say that if they saw me as a musician, but when you\u2019re too self-critical you end up putting a wall between what wants to come out and what\u00a0comes out.\u2019<\/p>The work they\u2019re doing together is as much physical as mental, she explains. \u2018Sometimes, if you connect to your body more, your brain quietens down, so it\u2019s a lot about connecting to the core and freeing up the body so there isn\u2019t tension that stops the flow of sound. But then the mental side is, \u201cWhat do you want to say? How do you want to say it?\u201d <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"982\" height=\"853\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/07\/CFH_PamelaDavisKivelson_cmyk.jpg\" alt=\"Composer Cheryl Frances Hoad\" class=\"wp-image-208678\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Cheryl Frances Hoad, who wrote her cello concerto ‘Earth, Sea, Air’ for Laura van der Heijden. Pic: Pamela Davis Kivelson – Pamela Davis Kivelson<\/figcaption><\/figure>‘She is helping me to connect in that way. My whole life, I\u2019ve wanted to do things slightly differently, partly because it\u2019s exciting and interesting, but also because I sometimes fear that if I\u2019m in the normal environment, I might find it difficult to stay myself.\u2019<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-laura-van-der-heijden-s-musical-partners\">Laura van der Heijden’s musical partners<\/h2>Perhaps as respite from this extreme self-scrutiny, one of her favourite musical relationships is with Kaleidoscope, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/musical-terms\/what-is-chamber-music\">chamber music<\/a><\/strong> collective featuring violinist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/artists\/who-is-elena-urioste\">Elena Urioste<\/a><\/strong>, pianist Tom Poster and others, which performs unusual and neglected repertoire. \u2018A huge part of Kaleidoscope is to perform pieces that haven\u2019t been played very much and that\u2019s an absolute light in my life,\u2019 she explains. \u2018They\u2019re my dear friends and we do exciting musical projects together.\u2019<\/p>She seems fairly ambivalent about her academic studies (\u2018It turns out, having gone to Cambridge, that I\u2019m a deeply instinctive musician, and I don\u2019t want to know names and definitions\u2019) but credits a course on \u2018Decolonising the Ear\u2019 with changing her outlook about repertoire. \u2018I hadn\u2019t been exposed to anything about colonialism and it was mind-blowing, and has changed my perspective on my role in programming.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Path to the Moon, Laura van der Heijden | J\u00e2ms Coleman\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YpiKZ-wogNc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><\/figure>‘When you\u2019re in it so deeply, you\u2019re not aware of the context: how the canon has emerged and that it doesn\u2019t need to be that way. It\u2019s also more interesting to programme pieces that haven\u2019t been played as much. There\u2019s a pressure with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/ludwig-van-beethoven\">Beethoven<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/mozart\">Mozart<\/a><\/strong> to be a certain way: with pieces that haven\u2019t been played so often, there\u2019s less performance history, so the performer is freer to interpret.\u2019<\/p>Typically thoughtful, she sees both sides of the debate, though, and finds herself somewhere in the middle, as she explains. \u2018It\u2019s a strange thing to be playing old music and knowing how to reinvent your relationship to it. The classical music world has a reputation for being a bit elitist and insular, but it can be very inviting, and lots of people feel very deeply about the music that\u2019s played. <\/p>‘I haven\u2019t found my place along that spectrum. Some people have a clear voice and want to be musical activists, and programme more daringly than I do and be very vocal. I\u2019ve found a sort of middle ground.\u2019<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-i-need-variety-if-i-only-do-one-thing-i-nbsp-get-nbsp-very-nbsp-stuck\">‘I need variety. If I only do one thing, I\u00a0get\u00a0very\u00a0stuck.\u2019<\/h2>Despite this uncertainty, or maybe because of it, her repertoire choices are relatively diverse and beautifully conceived. Her most recent recital disc, the lunar-themed Path to the Moon<\/em> with J\u00e2ms Coleman, ranged from Erich <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/erich-wolfgang-korngold\">Erich Korngold<\/a><\/strong> to George Walker via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/guide-florence-price\">Florence Price<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/benjamin-britten-composer\">Benjamin Britten<\/a><\/strong>. And their previous Poh\u00e1dka: Tales from Prague to Budapest<\/em> included works by Kapr\u00e1lov\u00e1 (you can read mroe about this remarkable composer in our feature on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/the-ten-best-czech-composers\">best Czech composers<\/a><\/strong>) and Mih\u00e1ly alongside Kod\u00e1ly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/leos-janacek\">Jan\u00e1\u010dek<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/antonin-dvorak\">Dvo\u0159\u00e1k<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1046\" height=\"1046\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2024\/07\/Screenshot-2024-07-25-at-19.04.39.png\" alt=\"Laura van der Heijden and J\u00e2ms Coleman\" class=\"wp-image-208679\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">With pianist and collaborator J\u00e2ms Coleman. Pic: Matthew Johnson – Matthew Johnson<\/figcaption><\/figure>She\u2019s started singing in performances (\u2018It\u2019s a way of accessing something for me that feels important, and it\u2019s an easy way to make a programme more varied\u2019) and has moved beyond the standard concertos, working on those by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/samuel-barber\">Samuel Barber<\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/bohuslav-martinu\">Bohus\u0142av Martin\u016f<\/a><\/strong> and Dmitry Kabalevsky. The mix of everything suits her: \u2018I\u2019ve figured out that I want and need variety. If I only do one thing, I\u00a0get\u00a0very\u00a0stuck.\u2019<\/p>At one point in our interview, Laura van der Heijden admits, \u2018You\u2019ve caught me at a time when I\u2019m trying to figure everything out.\u2019 I suspect she\u2019s the type of person who is always trying to figure everything out \u2013 it\u2019s an uncomfortable truth that the finest musicians are often the ones who question themselves most unrelentingly. I hope that she finds the answers she\u2019s looking for, and that we get to the enjoy the fruits of her\u00a0discoveries along the way.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-laura-van-der-heijden-at-the-2024-bbc-proms\">Laura van der Heijden at the 2024 BBC Proms<\/h2>Laura looks in at the 2024 BBC Proms on Friday 26 July for Prom 10, for a performance of the Cello Concerto\u00a0\u2018Earth, Sea, Air\u2019<\/em> by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, with accompaniment from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ryan Wigglesworth. Also on the menu are Britten’s\u00a0Gloriana \u2013 symphonic suite<\/em> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/composers\/edward-elgar\">Elgar<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Symphony No. 2 in E flat major<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Published: Thursday, 25 July 2024 at 18:10 PM You may know Laura van der Heijden from the Walton Cello Concerto that won her BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2012, aged only 15 \u2013 a performance of preternatural poise, intelligence and intensity. Since then, Laura has kept a low profile, eschewing the exposure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":45542,"template":"","categories":[1,17],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"8"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/07\/laura-van-der-heijden-the-gifted-thoughtful-and-ever-questing-cellist-who-won-bbc-young-musician-at-just-15.png",1554,1118,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/07\/laura-van-der-heijden-the-gifted-thoughtful-and-ever-questing-cellist-who-won-bbc-young-musician-at-just-15-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/07\/laura-van-der-heijden-the-gifted-thoughtful-and-ever-questing-cellist-who-won-bbc-young-musician-at-just-15-300x216.png",300,216,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/07\/laura-van-der-heijden-the-gifted-thoughtful-and-ever-questing-cellist-who-won-bbc-young-musician-at-just-15-768x553.png",768,553,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/07\/laura-van-der-heijden-the-gifted-thoughtful-and-ever-questing-cellist-who-won-bbc-young-musician-at-just-15-1024x737.png",800,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/07\/laura-van-der-heijden-the-gifted-thoughtful-and-ever-questing-cellist-who-won-bbc-young-musician-at-just-15-1536x1105.png",1536,1105,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/07\/laura-van-der-heijden-the-gifted-thoughtful-and-ever-questing-cellist-who-won-bbc-young-musician-at-just-15.png",1554,1118,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Thursday, 25 July 2024 at 18:10 PM You may know Laura van der Heijden from the Walton Cello Concerto that won her BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2012, aged only 15 \u2013 a performance of preternatural poise, intelligence and intensity. Since then, Laura has kept a low profile, eschewing the exposure…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/45541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}