Laura Cannell is a British experimental composer, violinist and recorder player from Suffolk. She works in folk, early music and experimental settings, often using fiddle, overbowed fiddle, double recorders, percussion and other uncommon wind instruments.

Music and style

Cannell’s music draws on ancient, traditional and improvised forms, often using fragments of medieval themes and lost melodies. Her work places strong emphasis on space, dynamics and acoustics, and her solo and collaborative performances explore a wide range between early music, folk and more abstract approaches. She also uses double-barrelled recorders, based on images in medieval paintings and sculptures, and a deconstructed bow wrapped around the violin in her live work.

Horses Brawl and labels

She is a founder member of Horses Brawl, an innovative folk and early duo. Cannell also founded the independent label Brawl Records in 2005. After the release of her solo album Quick Sparrows Over the Black Earth, the label issued a digital-only remix album featuring Luke Abbott, Bass Clef, Hoofus, Kemper Norton, Ekoplekz and Hacker Farm.

Releases and collaborations

Quick Sparrows Over the Black Earth is a solo album made up of ten tracks recorded in single takes in a small medieval church in rural South Norfolk. It uses atmospheric improvisations around fiddle and double-barrelled recorder parts. Cannell also releases music with harp player Rhodri Davies on Feathered Swing of the Raven, a duo recording in which the harp is played with a double bow. She performs in an experimental fiddle duo with André Bosman, who records as Hoofus, and in the trio Oscilanz with Ralph Cumbers, also known as Bass Clef, and drummer Charles Hayward of This Heat and About Group.

Education and performances

Cannell studies at the London College of Music, where she graduates with first-class honours in performance, and later completes a master’s degree at the University of East Anglia. Her live work includes performances at Supernormal, The Aldeburgh Festival, Cambridge Folk Festival, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and Brighton Early Music Festival. She also appears on BBC Radio 3 programmes including Late Junction, The Early Music Show and In Tune, and on ITV, Sky Arts and BBC Four.

Recognition

She has five albums released and is described by The Times as “A Virtuoso Magpie Musician”.