About

Laura Altman is based in Sydney on Gadigal and Wangal Country, where she has woven her way through the improvised, exploratory and folk music scenes with her intuitive clarinet playing, free improvising and compositions. She is a long-standing member of many varied ensembles, including improvising collective Splinter Orchestra, and internationally acclaimed trio Great Waitress alongside Monica Brooks and Magda Mayas. In more recent years Laura has ventured into a solo improvisation practice that involves her unique approach to the clarinet underpinned by a curiosity with resonance and feedback. She has also been writing songs with voice and guitar that are beginning to find their way into the world. Laura co-hosts Listening Space on Eastside Radio 89.7FM, and helps run the online exploratory music directory and newsletter emus.space.

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“Sitting between electronic processing and acoustic improvisation was Sydney clarinettist Laura Altman, who records her wistful, lightly muted sounds on small microphones placed beneath cans and other resonant objects, signal from which is then fed into cassette tapes whose playback is picked up again. Lovingly manipulating these devices with her feet while cupping her clarinet’s mouth against her thigh, this was a wonderfully corporeal work of gentle feedback, metallic buzzes and stop-start, warbling, acoustic noises.”
Review from Audible Edge Festival, Perth 2019 - Limelight Magazine

Photo on homepage by Josh Wells Photography
Website by Jill Farrar