1. Laura Mvula released her debut studio album, Sing to the Moon, to favourable reviews, and earning two MOBO awards and a Mercury Prize nomination.
20 Facts About Laura Mvula
1. 2.
In 2018, Laura Mvula received an honorary doctorate of music from her alma mater, Birmingham City University.
3.
Laura Mvula grew up in the Birmingham suburbs of Selly Park and Kings Heath with two younger siblings.
4.
Laura Mvula's mother is a humanities professor and is from Saint Kitts.
5.
Laura Mvula's father is from Jamaica and is a youth legal protection educator.
6.
Laura Mvula took up piano and violin at primary school and later attended Swanshurst School for girls.
7.
Laura Mvula was Director of the Lichfield Community Gospel Choir, founded by Black Voices and Lichfield Festival in 2009.
8.
Laura Mvula has previously directed the Alvechurch Community Choir in Alvechurch.
9.
In 2008 Laura Mvula graduated from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with a degree in composition.
10.
Laura Mvula worked as a supply music teacher, and later as a receptionist for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, when she began to write songs.
11.
Laura Mvula's sketches caught the attention of composer Steve Brown, and his manager, Kwame Kwaten, who became Mvula's manager.
12.
In May 2012, after several showcases, Laura Mvula was signed by Colin Barlow to Sony subsidiary RCA.
13.
Laura Mvula released her debut extended play, She, on 16 November 2012.
14.
Laura Mvula worked on the album with producer Steve Brown and mix engineer Tom Elmhirst.
15.
In July 2015, Laura Mvula performed with fifty musicians of the Metropole Orkest at the North Sea Jazz Festival, one of the biggest indoor jazz festivals in the world.
16.
In January 2016, Laura Mvula released "Overcome", a collaboration with Nile Rodgers, and the lead single from her forthcoming second studio album, The Dreaming Room.
17.
Laura Mvula composed the music for the 2017 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Antony and Cleopatra, which opened at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in March and later transferred to the Barbican Centre in November.
18.
Laura Mvula's "Sing to the Moon" was performed at the 2019 BBC Last Night of The Proms.
19.
In February 2021, Laura Mvula announced the pending release of new music and a livestream concert on February 24,2021, titled "Under a Pink Moon".
20.
Laura Mvula stated her influences include Nina Simone, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, Des'ree, Omar, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, The Jackson 5, and Diana Ross.