About – Laura Piras

Laura Piras BA (Hons) MMus MA specialises in the performance of 17th, 18th & 19th-century works on historical flutes. She is CEO, Artistic Director and Principal Flute of The Vauxhall Band, and has performed and recorded, including as Guest Principal, with many other leading ensembles such as the London Handel Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Academy of Ancient Music and as Co-Principal Flute with The Hanover Band, for whom she also curated concert programmes, such as the ‘Schubert in the City 2022-23’ series while in the post of Head of Artistic Planning.

Keen to share her experiences, Laura has devised and performed in composition, academic and historic dance education projects for The Vauxhall Band, including masterclasses for the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, and community projects for schools and the Classical Vauxhall festival. She has also worked on orchestral education projects with and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Academy of Ancient Music and The Hanover Band including Beethoven’s symphonies at the University of Chichester. Laura currently teaches the flute and music theory at Graveney School in London, and has many private students of modern and historical flutes. Previous teaching experience includes a post as modern and baroque flute teacher for the University of East Anglia from 2007-11.

Laura received a MA in Historical Performance from the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied baroque and classical flutes with Lisa Beznosiuk and Rachel Brown, supported by the Winifred Disney Award. She won the prestigious Early Music Prize and graduated with Distinction.

In addition, Laura read music at the University of East Anglia, receiving a BA (Hons) and a MMus in Performance Studies. She was awarded four major bursaries for performance studies from the School of Music (Hilda Houssart, Britten-Pears, Imogen Holst and Frank Thistlethwaite Scholarships) which enabled her to receive modern and baroque flute lessons from William Sleath.