- Free admission, reservation needed –
Open for external public - 40 external spots available
Sought after collaborator and Grammy award-winning pianist Bill Laurance drops by Conservatorium Maastricht to work with our jazz department on April 9!
Bill Laurance has built a career blending genres of music seemingly at stylistic polar opposites.
As an original member of Snarky Puppy, whose contemporary jazz-fusion earned him five Grammys, Bill has showcased his talent in improvisation, a cornerstone of jazz at odds with his formal education studying classical music, composition, and performance.
His work has featured in advertisements for a variety of clients, including Apple, and Sky, and films such as Un Traductor (2018). Bill also composed several themes for Initials S.G. (2019). He was lauded by the likes of David Crosby, with whom he collaborated with on a number of occasions, including the score for David’s 2019 documentary Remember My Name.
His compositions have been re-arranged for award-winning collaborations with the WDR Big Band of Cologne, and commissioned by the Cello Biennale for the Metropole. Bill has composed for countless dancers and choreographers, including Alvin Ailey’s Hope Boykin, ReDefine US, From The Inside OUT (2021), Here WE are (2020), An Evening of Hope at 92nd Street Y. (2021). He has worked with numerous dance companies in the UK, including Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures, Phoenix Dance, Northern Ballet Theatre, and English National Ballet.
His solo career (8 albums and 3 EPs in 8 years), has featured compositions that explore electronic music and conceptual narrative themes. Bill’s playing was tempered at a young age; at 9 he was playing with school bands and sneaking off on a trip to London’s Union Chapel to play the organ. At 14, he had a residency playing ragtime and swing at a Soho bar. His later tenure at Leeds University led to meeting Michael League, whose like-minded approach to rejecting genre constraints resulted in working together in Snarky Puppy. His versatility is demonstrated by his work with his trio, his duo project with Michael League, collaborations with Orchestras all around the world and artists across a number of genres.