Hello!
Since moving to the UK in 2002 to pursue my musical studies, I had the privilege to be involved in teaching from the beginning of my career. As a student at the RCM in London, I had the opportunity to teach students of all abilities and also helped set up the music provision at a local private primary school in the London area of Catford. As an accompanist, I also had the opportunity to play with several young instrumentalists and singers of the highest calibre. Alongside giving concerts and recitals, teaching and accompanying keeps me motivated to find new resources, repertoire and performing strategies to help musicians find their own individual voice. Read on to find out more about my musical journey.
My Story
Originally from Cuba, Ana Laura moved to the UK at the age of 19, having won a full tuition-fees scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music in London. She graduated with Honours in 2006 and completed a Masters in Advance performance with distinction in 2008 under the musical guidance of Professor John Blakely.
​Ana enjoys an active career as a performer, regularly giving recitals as a soloist and chamber musician in the South West. She has performed at the Sherborne Abbey Festival, Tincleton Gallery Concert Series, St Bartholomew's Crewkerne Concert Series, Sherborne Douzelage among many others. She also regularly performs with her husband, conductor and cellist Arturo Serna. As a teacher and accompanist, Ana works at Sherborne Girls and Guildhall Young Artists, Taunton. In February 2024, Ana worked as the official accompanist for the Vocal Section at the Taunton Festival of the Arts. More recently, she has been appointed Artistic Director of the Sherborne Abbey Festival.
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For Ana, music should be an integral part of education, and providing opportunities for all is very important to her. In 2024, she has been working as an accompanist alongside Christopher Monks, founder and Artistic Director of Armonico Consort, in his ground-breaking project Choir Creation, which has now started in the South West. She is also helping her husband, Arturo Serna, with the establishment of El Sistema - Sherborne: a unique orchestral experience for pupils of all levels where instruments and coaching is provided free of charge for primary school children in the area of Sherborne, Dorset.
Ana started to play the piano at the age of five in her home country Cuba. During her formative years, she was taught by professors Teresita Junco, Elena Salámova and Igor Lavrov. At the age of 13, Ana Laura made her orchestral debut with the Orquesta Filarmonica Nacional and at 17, she performed Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra, both in Caracas Venezuela. She has also been a prize-winner of national and international piano competitions, including the Amadeo Roldán National Piano Competition (Cuba), II National Competition for Young Soloists (Venezuela), The Pinault International Piano Tape Competition (USA) Silvia Einsenstein National Piano Competition (Venezuela) and the Concordia Foundation Award 2008.
Contact
Please fell free to contact me for more information about lessons, coaching and accompaniment sessions.