Roxanna Albayati is a cellist, improviser and teacher 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. Roxanna's creative practice is often influenced by her research, and from 2021 she will continue her current research into identity, improvisation and cross-cultural pedagogical approaches as a co-researcher at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
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, specialising in 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 Hurst. Roxanna has been generously supported by the Colin Blythe Bursary Fund and the External Events Fund at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
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, specialising in 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 Hurst. Roxanna has been generously supported by the Colin Blythe Bursary Fund and the External Events Fund at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.