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Laura Margaret Smith & Liivi Arder
"a spirited young mezzo with a full, fearless voice. A name to watch.”
“Using the full range of her wonderful voice and transmitting the emotions of the songs, Laura communicated the depth of feelings in the German words. …and the sensitive piano accompaniments were played confidently and beautifully by Liivi.”
Duo - Vocal & Instrumental
Instrumentation
- Laura Margaret Smith - Mezzo Soprano
- Liivi Arder - Piano
Repertoire
Wesendonck Lieder - Wagner
Rückert Lieder - Mahler
Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Mahler, Strauss Lieder.
Britten A Charm of Lullabies & Folk Songs.
English & American Song.
Contemporary Scots Song.
Opera Arias.
Biography
Award-winning duo Laura Margaret Smith and Liivi Arder have been performing together since 2009 whilst at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where they were awarded prizes in the Frank Spedding Lieder Competition and the Hugh S. Roberton Scots Song Competition.
They have performed extensively in many festivals around the UK, including with Live Music Now Scotland and at the European Commission Estonian Presidency reception at Scottish Parliament House. They made their Estonian debut in Tallinn in 2019.
Laura and Liivi specialise in German Lieder repertoire and have performed in masterclass with Florian Boesch and Malcolm Martineau at Glasgow City Halls.
Laura Margaret Smith has sung with the Bayreuth Festival, Hamburg State Opera, Scottish Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, Opera Bohemia, Mahler Players, NOISE, Opera Mahogany, Paisley Opera, Scottish Voices and Red Note Ensemble.
Laura has performed in venues such as the Melbourne Recital Centre, Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Kings Place, Celtic Connections, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, PODIUM Festival, St. Martin-in-the-fields, The Usher Hall, The Queen’s Hall, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and in a live broadcast for BBC Radio 3.
Estonian pianist Liivi Arder studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. In 2010 she completed the Advanced Accompaniment Course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under Fali Pavri and later received the Sam Hutchings Fellowship award. She was awarded first prize in the Valentino Bucchi Competition in Rome, third prize in the chamber music category of the 11th Pietro Argento Music Competition in Gioia del Colle, the Estonian National Television prize in their Con Brio competition, and the Hester Dickson accompanist prize. Liivi has been a soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EMTA) at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival and was a member of the EMTA New Music Ensemble playing in the Contemporary Music Festival in Seoul. As an accompanist Liivi has been working for summer courses and masterclasses at the RCS and with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. She has given chamber music concerts with Nikita Naumov, Ana Cordova Andres and Peter Wesley, and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Glasgow West End Festival with the ensemble Daniel’s Beard. Liivi is currently an accompanist and coach at the RCS String Department and Junior Conservatoire of Scotland.
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