AFTER an outstanding performance in April 2023, Calstock Arts is welcoming back award-winning virtuoso classical guitarist Laura Lootens on Friday, September 6.

Laura was born in 1999 in Marktoberdorf, Bavaria. She discovered her passion for playing the guitar when she was eight years old and made her orchestral debut, playing Rodrigo’s famous ‘Concierto de Aranjuez’, aged 15. A year later she was one of the youngest students ever to begin studying for the Bachelor of Music at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich.

In 2019, she won the scholarship of the prestigious German Music Competition open for all instruments, one of Germany’s highest accolades for a young musician. Laura’s concert career took off following her performance at the Gasteig, Munich, in the internationally acclaimed ‘Winners and Masters’ series.

That brought her to the attention of German music lovers, and since then, Laura has appeared at festivals and concert halls in Germany, including Bonn’s famous Beethoven Festival. She was rewarded with the coveted Andrés Segovia Prize in November 2022.

In the last year, Laura has enhanced her musical career with many new achievements. She has won the coveted Leonhard and Ida Wolf Prize for music of the city of Munich and has played important concerts in Germany with the Luneburg, Heidelberg and Odessa Symphony Orchestras. She released her debut CD “Albeniz” to great acclaim in September 2023.

In March of this year, Laura was selected by Classic FM as one of their 30 ‘Rising Stars of 2024’.

Laura says: “Music is colourful, versatile, strong and yet so fragile at the same time. It is my passion to bring music to life, to grab the audience and carry them away into the vastness of sounds. Nothing can reflect my feelings, ideas and fantasies like making music.”

Laura will also be performing at St Just-in-Roseland Parish Church on Sunday, September 1 and at Enys House, Penryn on Tuesday, September 3.

To book tickets to the performance at Calstock Arts, visit: calstockarts.org/event/6-september-laura-lootens