Laura Helen Samuel (4 January 1976 – 21 November 2024) was a British violinist. She was a member and the co-founder of Belcea Quartet and leader of the

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...

Biography

Samuel was born in 1976 in London. She studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

in the 1990s together with Romanian violinist Corina Belcea. They played music just for fun together in a string quartet. As they were successful, the four quartet members were exempted from orchestra lessons and they founded the Belcea Quartet, with Samuel as second violinist. Samuel played in the Belcea Quartet from 1994 to 2010. They won many prizes and gave concerts in the United States, Asia and Europe. In 2010 Samuel wanted to focus on her orchestral career. After an audition, she was accepted as a

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

in the

. In 2012, Samuel became the leader of the orchestra. In the early stages of her career, she received a number of prizes, including those of the

Royal Over-Seas League The Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) is a not-for-profit institution founded in 1910, dedicated to promoting international friendship pursuant to its royal charter, an ethos which binds its global membership. ROSL has a Grade I listed clubhouse i ...

, Musicians Benevolent Fund, Manoug Parikian Award, and the TWIYCA Competition. She had a five-year residency at the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

in London. As a teacher, she worked for institutions such as the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

and the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

. Samuel joined the

Nash Ensemble The Nash Ensemble of London is an English chamber ensemble. It was founded by Artistic Director Amelia Freedman and Rodney Slatford in 1964, while they were students at the Royal Academy of Music, and was named after the Nash Terraces around t ...

in 2010. After a long illness, Samuel died on 21 November 2024, at the age of 48 from

leiomyosarcoma A leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is a rare malignant (cancerous) smooth muscle tumor. The word is . The stomach, bladder, uterus, blood vessels, and Gastrointestinal tract, intestines are examples of hollow organs made up of smooth muscles where LMS can be ...

, a rare form of cancer. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra dedicated a concert to her after her death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel , Laura 1976 births 2024 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Music Musicians from London British violinists British women violinists Place of death missing Deaths from leiomyosarcoma Chief conductors of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra British schoolteachers