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Laura Pudelek is a cellist, improvisor and performer.
Her work is primarily dedicated to improvisation and experimental music and operates at the interface of music, dance and performance. she studied cello and instrumental pedagogy with a focus on improvisation and contemporary music under Raphael Wallfisch, Wolfgang Aichinger, Manfred Reichert, Burkhard Stangl, and Gunther Schneider. Pudelek lives and works in Vienna.
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She began playing the cello at the age of six, following the traditional path of classical training, including competitions, orchestral studies, and academic degrees. Alongside her classical education, she explored various musical genres early on. As a teenager, she joined a German indie band, writing emo-post-rock-pop songs, and later expanded her work into jazz, noise, and pop through collaborations with different bands. In 2010, she co-founded the chamber-pop group DAWA, which enabled her to connect with a broad and diverse audience. Her studies in improvisation and new music led her into the world of free improvisation and experimental music, shaping her approach to using the cello as a tool for immediate expression. A wide range of musical interests and influences defines her sound and her refined sense of form. The solo suites of J.S. Bach are still her favourite music to play.
For Laura, improvisation begins with the tension created by the architecture of the space, the fellow musicians, and the audience. By listening and reacting, she follows her impulses to discover a creative flow. This process involves balancing a trance-like immersion with the focus required to craft a cohesive composition. Through the use of technical devices such as loops and sound effects, she creates intricate, multi-layered soundscapes where the unexpected guides the narrative in sound.
In 2021, she participated in a dance and performance project, where she discovered her love for dance. This experience opened the door to a more multi-dimensional artistic expression. The connection between movement and sound, the awareness of her body while playing, and the expressive potential of the body in (musical) performance have since become central to her artistic vision.