International performance experience,
a creative, sensitive approach to music making,
and joyful commitment in every collaboration
Australian-born pianist Lara Dodds-Eden returned to live in London, UK, in October 2020 after eight years of living in Canada. With a career spanning three continents (Australia, UK/Europe, and Canada) as a specialist song accompanist, choral accompanist, teacher and chamber musician, Lara pairs her extensive experiences in the classical realm with musical theatre and pop collaborations and loves to improvise and arrange where the opportunity arises. Her doctoral studies on translation in classical song are indicative of her broader interest in exploring ways of sharing music and musical texts, which can perhaps be seen most vividly in her performances with singer Alex Samaras.
In September 2023 Lara commenced piano teaching at Highgate School. Other recent work has included subbing in the West End for ‘School of Rock’, teaching on song translation at East Carolina University School of Music (in Dr. Catherine Gardner’s song class; 2022 and 2024), giving a masterclass on repertoire by female pianists at the University of Arkansas (in the piano class of Dr. Asher Armstrong; 2022), and accompanying many young people in ABRSM exams! In August 2022 Lara travelled to Toronto to record ‘Wound Turned to Light’, a full length album of songs by celebrated Canadian composer James Rolfe with singers Alex Samaras, Jeremy Dutcher and Andrew Adridge. This album was released in October 2023, as part of Toronto’s Confluence Concerts 2023-2024 ‘Songbook’ season, and details can be found here.
2014-2021
Doctorate of Musical Arts (Collaborative Piano):
University of Toronto, Canada
2006-2009
MMus, MMusPerf, Fellow in Accompaniment:
Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, UK
2002-2005
BMus (Hons), University Medal:
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Lara completed her Doctorate as a piano student of Lydia Wong at the University of Toronto, where she was 2014-2015 winner of the Gwendolyn Koldovsky Accompaniment Prize. Her Doctoral work consisted of three full length recitals and a dissertation. The live events featured an array of Toronto based musicians including violinist Sheila Jaffe, sopranos Ilana Zarankin and Danika Loren, tenor Charles Sy, singers Robin Dann and Alex Samaras, violist Keith Hamm, cellist Julie Hereish and Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt’s Macmillan Singers in repertoire from Brahms to Corigliano. Her research into the contemporary implications of singing Lieder in English translation was supervised by Dr. Jeff Packman. Her dissertation is available here: elsewhere, a small introductory article was published by the Art Song Foundation of Canada and can be read here, and novel material on the subject is collected at @translatingsongs on instagram. In Toronto Lara accompanied the touring choir of the world-renowned Toronto Children’s Chorus, conducted by Elise Bradley, and the University of Toronto’s premiere mixed choir, Macmillan Singers, conducted by Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt and latterly, David Fallis. She was also a regular performer at Boris Zarankin and Inna Perkis’ celebrated Off Centre Music Salons, appearing with performers including singers Lucia Cesaroni, Peter McGillivray and Brett Polegato amongst many others.
Lara’s scholarly pursuits in Canada followed a year spent as resident collaborative pianist at the Banff Centre in the Canadian Rockies, where she performed with dozens of musicians from across the world including as a soloist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and duo partner to cellist Gavriel Lipkind, pianist Ronan O’Hora and Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew.
This rich experience came close on the heels of seven years of intensive study and performance in London, UK, which commenced with postgraduate study in Accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music and went on to include many performances around the UK and further afield, including at Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Purcell Room, the Slovakian Philharmonic and Amsterdam's Het Concertgebouw. Lara performed in masterclasses with Graham Johnson, Bengt Forsberg, Sir Thomas Allen, Helmut Deutsch, Iain Burnside, Bernard Greenhouse and the Kungsbacka Trio, won the 2007 GSMD Accompaniment Prize, and was pianist with the winning ensemble in the 2007 GSMD Award for Chamber Music. In 2008 Lara performed as a Tunnell Trust Young Musician, accompanied the string prize winner and overall 2nd place winner at the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artist’s Competition, and performed with cellist John Myerscough at the Wigmore Hall. In 2009 Lara performed with cellist Matthijs Broersma at the Royal Festival Hall and they appeared again the following year at the Purcell Room. She also performed at the Crush Room of the Royal Opera House in their lunchtime series with soprano Anna Devin. In February 2011 Lara performed at the Royal Festival Hall with violist Rosalind Ventris. The duo went on to perform extensively across the UK, including at the Wigmore Hall, and in Holland and the Slovak Republic through International Holland Music Sessions.
Lara performed at the Paxos International Music Festival in Greece from 2009-2013, and from 2010-2013 was Artistic Director.
As an undergraduate Lara studied with Susanne Powell at the Australian National University, Canberra; she began piano lessons with Kathryn Warren-Wynne at age 4. An ABC Symphony Australia Keyboard Finalist in 2006, Lara returned to Australia in 2007 to perform Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with Sydney Sinfonia and conductor Richard Gill at Angel Place Recital Hall, Sydney in their 'Discovery Series' which was recorded for ABC Classic FM. See the projects page for more biographical detail and photos.