Lou Lyne Cellist & Composer
Lou Lyne has been on the music scene in Oxford and beyond since 2005. Having learnt to play cello as a child, it wasn't until she met founders of the Brickwork Lizards - Tom 'O Hawk' McDonnell and Tarik Beshir - that she rediscovered her musical passion. The Brickwork Lizards, which fuses arabic with hip hop, gypsy, and more, has been her musical home ever since.
It's led her to many exciting projects including with Saint Etienne (playing venues like Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican, Brighton Dome, Jersey Opera House, and Glastonbury Festival), recording and filming for Disney's live action remake of Aladdin, recording for Nick Cope's Cbeebies popcast, and recording and performing with Pete Gow and the Siren Strings.
She's now fronting the stage with the Blue Almond Project performing her compositions alongside a collection of talented musicians and great friends. Her music has been described as "an exquisite set of instrumental pieces scored for violin, viola, cello, and piano, Lou’s music comes from the heart. It weaves together subtly shifting tonalities, Debussy-esque shimmers, nods to Yann Tiersen, and the occasional Arabic inflection to create a glorious and emotive sound-world utterly her own. Many written during lockdown, the pieces reflect wordlessly and beautifully on the themes of love, loss, and longing.” (Jane Griffiths, Owl Light Trio).
Her debut album "Thinking of Blue Almonds" was released on 17 May 2023, launching with a live show at the Holywell Music Room in Oxford. Available to buy here:
https://loulyne.bandcamp.com/album/thinking-of-blue-almonds
R e c o m m e n d a t i o n s
"It has been my pleasure to work with Lou both live and in the studio. She is organised, enthusiastic, creative and a real team player. She is great fun to tour with and really easy going. She has a wonderful feel in her playing, a mixture of real emotion and pure groove and is always happy to adapt and change things if necessary at the last minute, also to come up with her own ideas when asked. I would recommend her to anyone. Louisa's string trio (which included Sophie Frankford on violin and Jane Grifiths on viola) arrived in the studio to record two songs and were totally professional and swift. They were given a score but were also very happy to try a couple of other ideas on the spot and to improvise. It was just what I needed and the tracks sound amazing!"
Sarah Cracknell, Saint Etienne
"I’ve worked with Lou many times here at Evolution Studios. As well as recording here with bands, she's one of my go to session musicians and has always delivered the goods. Her playing is not only technically excellent but has bags of style and feeling. Obviously a competent music reader but what also really impresses me, and this can be rare in classically trained musicians, is that she’s happy to improvise and work things out on the day if the session dictates."
Nick Moorbath, Evolution Studios
"Lou is a pleasure to work with. There was good communication leading up to our event (a garden party for 160 people) and she was very responsive and understanding to our needs for the occasion. She suggested a perfect programme and arrived on time, elegant and beautifully presented. Her solo performance was lyrical, bright and charming and she played with apparent ease and skill. Those attending the party were treated to a melodic and sublime repertoire on a lovely summer’s day. I am looking forward to working with her again."
Rachel Dahl, University of Oxford