Laura Inserra's Page

My Role

Musician/Composer, Visual Artist, Digital/Media Artist, Arts Collective, Curator, Producer, Arts Worker, Arts Supporter

My Discipline(s)

Music, Visual Arts, Digital Arts, Culinary Arts, Design

My Specialties

Connecting the traditional with the contemporary art.

About Me And My Work

Laura Inserra is a vibrant and talented composer, multi-instrumentalist, teacher, performer and artistic director.

She is a classically trained musician with a strong improvisational background. She plays contemporary and world music in different projects as a percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. She authors and performs music for theater, dance performances, exhibitions and soundtracks for movies with acclaimed musicians from all over the world.

For more then 15 years she has been involved in the artistic direction of multi-disciplinary performances in Europe and in the US.

In 2007 she founded SAMAVESHA, a international multidisciplinary performing arts company based out of Berkeley but performing all over the world.

Audiences worldwide are not only mesmerized by this woman but captivated by her virtuosity, profound musicality and the passion she brings on the stage.

Biography:

I was born in Sicily, Italy. At the age of 15 I started studying classical piano, but my passion for research led me to the improvisation style. I played with different musicians and I explored various musical genres, and within a few years I was able to apply the free improvisation technique on many instruments: bass, soprano sax, classical flute and ethnic percussion instruments.


Thanks to musicians and teachers from various continents, I learned to both play and construct native instruments of the world, like the didgeridoo from Australia, the djembe from Africa, bamboo flutes from India and other instruments created by me.


In 1993 I moved to Rome to study psychology. At this point my research intensified, specializing in ethnic/tribal instruments and cultural anthropology. This is when I also started teaching percussion instruments and didgeridoo.


I attended the Classical Music Conservatory in Italy, where I studied classical orchestral percussion. Thanks to my teacher Gianluca Ruggeri I intensified my skill in minimalist music. These years were very important because they allowed me to develop my personal style.


At 21 I created and directed a theatrical multimedia performance called ‘Apologia della Gioia’, involving a live ensemble of thirty artists as musicians, actors, dancers, poets and performers. This is the vision I hold in all my works: different expressions of art all in an unique event. Now these productions are called SAMAVESHA.


While I was living in Rome, I authored and performed various pieces of music for theater, dance performances, exhibitions and soundtracks for movies with acclaimed musicians from all over the world. ‘Mood’ is an album with different songs from these works. Check also the soundtrack samples...


For almost two years I also collaborated musically and as assistant composer for Paolo Buonvino, one of the most famous italian movie soundtrack composers.


Currently, I am based out of Berkeley, California, where I create soundtracks, performances and concerts with artists of all genres. I am the fonder and the artistic director of SAMAVESHA, a production that seeks to unite different expressions of Art in beautiful, inspiring and unique events. ‘Maṇḍala’ is a series of artistic events that gather great artists from all over the world.


In the past few years, I have discovered the HANG, a new instrument made in Switzerland. ‘HANG: a collection of works’ and ‘Musical Incense’ are albums dedicated entirely to this instrument. My research is focused primarily on the Hang although I perform with a variety of instruments and I teach percussion and rhythmic improvisation, didgeridoo and circular breathing, Hang and other workshops.

Artistic Experiences I Have Had On My Travels

www.samavesha.org

Art Forms And Cultures I Would Like To Engage With

All forms of art.

My Creative Influences & Favorite Artists

Meredith Monk, Bjork, Madredeus, Bill Evans, Steve Reich, Shakti, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Nitin Sawhney, Niyaz, Vas, Zakir Hussain, Jan Garbarek, John MacLaughlin, Glen Velez, Oi va voi, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Glen Gould, Bach, G. B. Pergolesi, Paris Combo, Prince, Rosa Balistreri, Lautari, Dead Can Dance, Wim Mertens, Miles Davis, Frida Kahlo..

My Web link

http://www.laurainserra.com