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Biography
Praised for his "beautiful tone" and "subtlety" (MusicWeb International), Hungarian-born László Rózsa enjoys a versatile musical career as a recorder player, researcher, and educator.
László studied recorder with Peter Holtslag at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. As a soloist and chamber musician he has performed across the UK, Europe, North America, and China. László is the principal recorder player of Scotland's Dunedin Consort, and he has shared the stage with multiple other leading period orchestras, including Spiritato, La Nuova Musica, and Oxford Baroque. He has appeared numerous times on BBC Radios 3 and 4, and his playing can be heard on albums published by Linn Records, Resonus Classics, Veterum Musica, TNW Music, and Huth-Records.
László is passionate about contemporary music, and he has premiered several new works for his instrument. He enjoys collaborating with composers; recent projects include working with Nicholas Olsen, Timothy Cooper, and István Láng. László is a founding member of the chamber groups Ensemble 1604, which aims to explore and create new music that engages directly with the sound world of early music, and Scots Baroque, which experiments with a fusion of techniques and genres including improvisation and folk styles.
László holds a PhD degree in historical musicology from the University of Glasgow, where he taught as an Affiliate Lecturer before joining the University of Nottingham in the autumn of 2023. He has also delivered lessons, workshops, and lectures in various other institutions, including the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, McGill University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the University of York.
Expertise Summary
Performance studies; Performance practice; Psychology of musical performance; Early modern Western music (esp. Italian); Music and gesture; Contemporary & experimental music performance; Recorder-focused studies
Research Summary
My research has recently been focusing on the hyper-theatrical world of late-Renaissance Italian courtly surroundings, and how social codes and ideals of 'everyday performances' can be paralleled… read more
Current Research
My research has recently been focusing on the hyper-theatrical world of late-Renaissance Italian courtly surroundings, and how social codes and ideals of 'everyday performances' can be paralleled with on-stage music performances of the time. I am interested in the identity construction and stage mindsets of performers, and in particular the notion of simulation and dissimulation in this context. I also investigate to what degree the performance aesthetic of court operas can be traced in the earliest commercial operas.
A further practice-based research project looks at creating a dialogue between past and present musical practices, and in particular how historically informed performance practice as a mentality can contribute to the creation of new musical works. As part of this context, I am particularly interested in improvisatory practices, interaction patterns of performers, performer-composer dynamics, and performer behaviours in electroacoustic environments.