Laura Cocks
Laura Cocks is a flutist with “febrile instrumental prowess” (The New York Times), who works in a wide array of environments as a performer of experimental music and “creates intricate, spellbinding works that have a visceral physicality to them” (Foxy Digitalis).
Laura is the executive director and flutist of TAK ensemble, “one of the most prominent ensembles in the United States practicing truly experimental music” (I Care If You Listen) with whom Laura makes musics "that combine crystalline clarity with the disorienting turbulence of a sonic vortex.” (WIRE Magazine).
Laura performs regularly as a soloist, an improviser, and with ensembles such as Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, and many others in NYC and abroad. They can be heard on labels such as ECM, Denovali Records, TAK editions, Tripticks Tapes, Carrier Records, Chambray Records, Double Whammy Whammy, New Focus Records, Sound American, Orange Mountain Music, Amplify, Winspear, Supertrain, Gold Bolus, Centaur Records, Infrequent Seams, and Sideband Records. Their recent solo album, field anatomies (Carrier Records), noted as one of Stereogum’s top-ten experimental releases of the year, was praised for its “superhuman physicality” and “disciplined patience” (Bandcamp Best Contemporary Release and Experimental Release).
Laura has been in residence at institutions such as Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Cornell University, The Delian Academy for New Music, and many others, and have given masterclasses and taught seminars in performance practice, composition, professional development, and applied critical theory at institutions such as DePaul University, Williams College, Oberlin Conservatory, University of California San Diego, Bowling Green State University, California Institute of the Arts, and many others. Laura holds a doctorate from The Graduate Center and continues their writing and research in corporeal analyses of art and musical praxis. They studied with Michel Debost, Kate Hill, William Bennett, Kathleen Chastain, and Tara Helen O’Connor at Oberlin Conservatory, The Royal Academy of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and The Graduate Center.
Laura is the executive director and flutist of TAK ensemble, “one of the most prominent ensembles in the United States practicing truly experimental music” (I Care If You Listen) with whom Laura makes musics "that combine crystalline clarity with the disorienting turbulence of a sonic vortex.” (WIRE Magazine).
Laura performs regularly as a soloist, an improviser, and with ensembles such as Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, and many others in NYC and abroad. They can be heard on labels such as ECM, Denovali Records, TAK editions, Tripticks Tapes, Carrier Records, Chambray Records, Double Whammy Whammy, New Focus Records, Sound American, Orange Mountain Music, Amplify, Winspear, Supertrain, Gold Bolus, Centaur Records, Infrequent Seams, and Sideband Records. Their recent solo album, field anatomies (Carrier Records), noted as one of Stereogum’s top-ten experimental releases of the year, was praised for its “superhuman physicality” and “disciplined patience” (Bandcamp Best Contemporary Release and Experimental Release).
Laura has been in residence at institutions such as Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Cornell University, The Delian Academy for New Music, and many others, and have given masterclasses and taught seminars in performance practice, composition, professional development, and applied critical theory at institutions such as DePaul University, Williams College, Oberlin Conservatory, University of California San Diego, Bowling Green State University, California Institute of the Arts, and many others. Laura holds a doctorate from The Graduate Center and continues their writing and research in corporeal analyses of art and musical praxis. They studied with Michel Debost, Kate Hill, William Bennett, Kathleen Chastain, and Tara Helen O’Connor at Oberlin Conservatory, The Royal Academy of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and The Graduate Center.
