​Roxanna Albayati is a cellist, artist and researcher based in London, UK. She merges experimental music and performance art through exploring cross-cultural improvisation, physicality of performance and mind-body pluralism. Although predominantly a cellist, Roxanna also uses her voice and body to materialise and realise her experimentations, fascinated by the process and natural evolution of discovery.

She is one of the founding members of the New Maker Ensemble, a group dedicated to experimenting with various art forms of new music and performance art. In 2019 she won the Gladys Puttick Improvisation Competition with duo partner Kristjan Kannukene. Roxanna has performed in venues such as I’klectik Art Lab, Arebyte Gallery, Wellcome Collection, Southbank Centre and Teatrio Balthazar Dias (Madeira, Portugal). She has has worked with composers such as Alan Hilario, Cecília Arditto and Neil Luck, and performed in events including the King’s Cross ‘Tête-à-tête’ Opera Festival, METRIC IP (EAMT, Tallinn, Estonia), Sounds Between Conference (University of Surrey), Sounds Like THIS Festival (Leeds College of Music), We Make Tomorrow Climate Summit (Serpentine Galleries, London) and Compositional Aesthetics and Political Conference (Goldsmiths, UoL). 

She completed her BMus in Music at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2015, studying cello performance under Rebecca Turner. In 2020 she completed her MA in Performance and Music Education at Trinity Laban, achieving a distinction. She studied cello performance under Natalia Pavlutskaya and music education under Tim Palmer, as well as studying improvisation under Douglas Finch and second study singing under Linda Hirst. In 2020, initially as part of a research project, Roxanna  begun Iranian classical music training - this training is ongoing with the support of the Bert Jansch Foundation. Roxanna has also been supported by the Colin Blythe Bursary Fund and the External Events Fund at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. 

Roxanna is currently working at Trinity Laban as a graduate researcher, as part of a research team, understanding the improvements needed to be taken to improve ethnic minority student groups experience’s. Roxanna is specifically focusing on cross-departmental practices, identity and student sense of belonging.