Tuesday, 04 June, 2024 - 14:48

Lauren Kinsella

Lauren Kinsella is an Irish vocalist based in London. Her work as a composer, improviser, collaborator and performer has been described as “truly captivating”  (For Folk’s Sake), “stunning” (BBC Radio 3) and with “inventive curiosity and imagination” (Irish Examiner).

A regular performer at many of London’s celebrated venues and festivals including Kings Place, Cafe Oto, the Vortex, the Royal Albert Hall, Southbank Centre, Songlines Encounters and the London Jazz Festival, she has also performed at several European festivals including Unerhört Jazz (Switzerland), InJazz (Netherlands), Cool Britannia (Vienna), Klaeng (Cologne), Down With Jazz (Ireland), Ankara International Music Festival (Istanbul), 12 Points (Porto), Dublin Literary Festival (Ireland), European Jazznights (Oslo), Jazzy Colours (Paris), Belfast Literary Festival (UK), Südtirol Jazz Festival (Italy) and the Cardiff Poetry Festival (Wales).

She specialises in improvisation and her unique style of vocalisation involves exploring the different types of vocabulary connected with vocal and instrumental sound. From singing to speech, utterance to lexicon, syllabic deconstruction to stream of consciousness, Lauren’s work celebrates the human voice in multi-faceted ways. “A modernist, Kinsella is pushing vocal improvisation into new areas” (AllAboutJazz)

Kinsella also works as a soloist with several celebrated composers from contemporary classical  (Ian Wilson, Ed Bennett) to film (Harry Escott) and writers (Cherry Smyth, Sally O’Reilly).

She has released several acclaimed albums on Edition Records, WideEarRecords, Diatribe and Two Rivers Records. Shortly after Snowpoet’s first release on Two Rivers Records, a band led by Kinsella and bassist Chris Hyson, Kinsella was awarded UK Vocalist of the Year (JazzFM 2016). Snowpoet’s most recent release on Edition Records Thought You Knew was hailed by the National Public Radio USA as one of the best jazz albums of 2018.

Her work continues to be reviewed in Germany, UK, France,  USA, Norway, Canada, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria and Ireland with her music featuring on BBC Radio 2, Radio 3 and Radio 6, RTE Lyric FM, Jazz FM, BBC Radio Scotland, Le Bande Passante, Sverigesradio and ORF.

Lauren received her MA in jazz singing and composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London upon which she was awarded the Kenny Wheeler Prize. She currently lectures at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, The Royal Academy of Music, London and Leeds College of Music. She has taught masterclasses in improvisation at several universities including Newcastle University, Dublin City University and Huddersfield Contemporary University.