Laura began violin at three and piano at six years old.  She won a place in the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain aged 6 - their youngest ever member - and has won places in the NCO in each subsequent year, including Leverhulme scholarships for 2007 and 2008.

Now 9 years old, Laura's musical education means that she travels frequently to London for violin lessons, currently funded by Future Talent.

In October of 2008 Laura gave her first solo violin recital and took part in the BBC Radio 3 Pianothon. You can listen Laura's piece here.  Recently, Laura has played a violin solo at the Purcell Room and a piano solo at a gala concert at the Royal Festival Hall, both at the South Bank, London.  From September 2009, she will be a pupil at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, where she has won a scholarship.

Laura has been selected as leader and soloist in the Under 13s Orchestra for the National Children's Orchestra.  She will play the Ballet Suite from Sway Lake in a concert in Basingstoke, and will be the only player on a half sized instrument, as most of the other violinists are at least 3 years older than her!

Laura has recently taken part in a Village Workshop for Suzuki pupils.  Her violin and piano recital pieces were captured on film - to see Laura in action, click here for piano and here for violin. 

"I like the huge range of sounds the violin can produce, and when I play it, fiddle and bow become extensions of me, part of me.  I love making the violin sing... I would like to play as well as Maxim Vengerov and to make people happy through my playing.

Music is important to me because of its beauty and because it can be so different; it can be like a tiger, or a mouse.  It's like a friend who is always there...and because you're playing the instrument, you can change whatever that friend looks like."
Laura Newey