ONE – A Tale of Transformation

ONE – A Tale of Transformation is the solo debut album of violinist and violist Laura Oomens. With this release, she delivers an innovative musical narrative in which compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Lera Auerbach, Eugène Ysaÿe, and Caroline Shaw are intuitively woven into a single, continuous storyline. The album marks Laura’s personal transformation from a traditionally trained musician into a free musical spirit who combines the violin, the viola, and her own voice.

On ONE – A Tale of Transformation Laura bridges a timespan of more than 300 years. The album is structured so that the four composers appear to be in conversation with one another. It opens with the intimate Adagio from Bach’s First Sonata—the very piece Laura began her journey with at age twelve under the guidance of legendary violinist Herman Krebbers. The 20th-century maestro Ysaÿe replies by quoting Bach, while the contemporary Auerbach responds with her complex, reflective Par.ti.ta. Caroline Shaw’s in manus tuas connects the narrative with delicate arpeggios inspired by a 16th-century motet. Through this unorthodox arrangement, the boundaries between old and new, classical and modern, seamlessly fade away. “Music becomes ‘ONE’ in the moment it is being played,” Laura Oomens explains. “I am fond of fluid concert programmes that do not fit into any kind of box, but rather trigger imagination and surprise in the listener. Every piece seems to emerge organically out of what came before.”

Laura Oomens grew up in a Dutch family of professional musicians and discovered her passion for the violin at the age of four. She studied with, among others, Herman Krebbers and Uwe-Martin Haiberg. In 2004 Laura concluded her studies with a Master in Music Per- formance at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. From 2007 to 2010, Laura was a member of the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague, serving as second concertmaster during her final year. Since2012, she has been co-leader of the second violins of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, under the leadership of Gordan Nikolic. She also regularly appears as a guest leader with other orchestras and ensembles. In solo and chamber music Laura plays both the violin and the viola. Since 2023 pianist Ksenia Kouzmenko and Laura Oomens regularly perform as a duo. As initiator and artistic leader of Close-Up Classics Laura organises and programmes chamber music concerts, such as the recently launched “Dorpskerkconcerten Bloemendaal”. She also initiated CONNECT! – a project designed especially to promote musical diversity and social cohesion.