Amy Laurenson is a pianist from the Shetland Isles, currently based in Glasgow.
Rooted in the traditional music of Shetland, Amy explores the music of her homeland alongside traditional and folk music from Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia. Growing up surrounded by classical music, she has developed a style which ebbs and flows between traditional, classical, and jazz influence. This diversity of influences has resulted in a vision which challenges the role of the piano as a solo instrument in traditional music.
Amy was recently named BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2023 at Celtic Connections and has since toured throughout the UK with her band, appearing at the likes of Shetland Folk Festival, Edinburgh TradFest, Cambridge Folk Festival and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Amy has performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at Glasgow’s City Halls during BBC Burns Night 2024 celebrations. She was named in The List’s Hot 100 of 2023 for her contributions to Scotland’s cultural landscape.
Her debut album Strands (due for release on 2nd February 2024), reflects on her traditional Shetland roots and how this has grown to be intertwined with threads of contemporary influence and ideas.
Having studied both classical and traditional music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Amy recently graduated with a first class BMus Honours degree in June 2022. Alongside performing with LÉDA, Tern (Danny Kyle Open Stage 2023 winners) and Miguel Girão (with Live Music Now Scotland), Amy is a Lecturer in Piano and Traditional Music at RCS Juniors and has previously taught with Feis Rois & Shetland Arts’ Folk Frenzy.
Amy Laurenson & Miguel Girão
Amy & Miguel, a Piano and Guitar duo, explore the music traditions and folklore of Shetland in fusion with the music of mainland Scotland, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
Rooted in the traditional music scene but having had classical training, the duo challenges the roles usually associated with their instruments. Through the interchange of melodic and harmonic roles within their arrangements, the duo draws influence from classical, contemporary, and jazz music.
The duo joined Live Music Now Scotland in Jan 2023.
TERN
Named after the migrating bird of the Nordic regions, Tern is a 5-piece band composed of Rose Logan (SC – Fiddle), Kristina Leesik (SE – Fiddle), Amy Laurenson (SC – Piano), Lea Søndergaard Larsen (DK – Bodhran), and Miguel Girão (PT – Guitar).
Tern crafts contemporary arrangements of traditional and original material, which draw on the music of Shetland, Mainland Scotland and Scandinavia.
Exploring the connections between the music of their homelands, Tern challenges listeners, inviting audiences on an exciting, cross-cultural journey, deeply rooted in a Nordic soundscape.
Tern won the Danny Kyle Open Stage 2023 at Celtic Connections.
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