Laura Lootens to Tour 15 US Cities Starting September 9

Guitarist Laura Lootens will release Shape of My Heart, her second solo album on the naïve classiques label, on October 9. The 2022 Andrés Segovia Competition winner, cited by Gramophone for 'exceptional command of her instrument,' offers a program of works that embody to her the essence of romance, including original pieces by Agustín Pío Barrios ('Mangoré') and Sérgio Assad, arrangements of piano pieces originally composed by Frédéric Chopin and John Field, and arrangements of a few songs made famous by Jacque Brel, Edith Piaf, and Sting.

As a teenager, Laura Lootens discovered a song by Sting that deeply moved her. From the 1993 album Ten Summoner's Tales, 'Shape of My Heart' has remained her favorite song, to this day. Included as the epilogue to her second album for naïve, the piece serves as a fitting conclusion to a program conceived as a tribute to music inspired by the Romantic tradition. At its core lies Frédéric Chopin – the epitome of Romanticism – who with his Waltzes, Mazurkas and Nocturnes delighted the salon society of the nineteenth century.

Lootens offers a complete map of romantic sensibility – from arrangements of Frédéric Chopin's music by Jerzy Koenig (b. 1956) and Tariq Harb (b. 1981) to works by Agustín Barrios 'Mangoré' (1885–1944) – the latter a legend among guitarists who is often dubbed the 'Chopin of Latin America.' She then traces the influence of the 'master of the mazurka' up to the modern French chanson, including the timeless Hymne à l'amour by Edith Piaf (written by Marguerite Monnot) and La Chanson des vieux amants by Jacques Brel and Gérard Jouannest, and extends it further into a different aesthetic realm with one of the 24 Preludios Chopinianos by Brazilian guitarist Sérgio Assad (b. 1952). She also includes Assad's transcription of the Notturno by John Field, the early-nineteenth-century Irish composer who himself inspired Frédéric Chopin in the development of the nocturne as a genre and adds the expansive Elégie by Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806–1856), a gem of the guitar repertoire.

Lootens will perform selections from the album in a series of concerts this fall in Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Alexandria, Richmond, Raleigh, Baton Rouge, Atlanta, Fort Worth, Plano, Dallas, Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.

Tracklist

Shape of My Heart — Laura Lootens, Guitar

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849): Waltz in A minor, Op. 34 No. 2 (arr. Jerzy Koenig)

Agustín Pío Barrios ('Mangoré') (1885–1944): Mazurka Apasionada

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849): Prelude in D-flat major, Op. 28 No. 15, 'Raindrop' (arr. Jerzy Koenig)

Agustín Pío Barrios ('Mangoré') (1885–1944): Waltz in D minor (Vals), Op. 8 No. 3

Agustín Pío Barrios ('Mangoré') (1885–1944): Waltz in G major (Vals Brillante), Op. 8 No. 4

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849): Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4 (arr. Tariq Harb)

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849): Waltz in B minor, Op. 69 No. 2 (arr. Jerzy Koenig)

Sérgio Assad (born 1952): Preludios Chopinianos - No. 7 in A major

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849): Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 (arr. Jerzy Koenig)

John Field (1782–1837): Notturno in B-flat major, H 37 (arr. Sérgio Assad)

Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806–1856): Elégie in A minor

Marguerite Monnot (1903–1961): Hymne à l'amour (arr. Roland Dyens)

Jacques Brel (1929–1978) | Gérard Jouannest (1933–2018): La Chanson des vieux amants (arr. Roland Dyens)

Sting (born 1951) | Dominic James Miller (born 1960): Shape of My Heart (arr. Laura Lootens)

Laura Lootens: Upcoming North American Performances

September 9 | Boston, MA | Old South Church

September 10 | NY, NY | St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church (Brooklyn)

September 11 | Philadelphia, PA | Philadelphia Ethical Society

September 12 | Baltimore, MD | Second Presbyterian Church

September 13 | Alexandria, VA | The Lyceum: Alexandria's History Museum

September 14 | Richmond, NC | John Marshall Ballrooms

September 15 | Raleigh, NC | Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh

October 28 | Baton Rouge, LA | University Baptist Church

October 30 | Atlanta, GA | Emory Performing Arts Studio

November 1 | Fort Worth, TX | Martin Hall at Texas Wesleyan University

November 2 | Plano, TX | Courtyard Theater

November 4 | Dallas, TX | Unity of Dallas

November 6 | Austin, TX | Central Presbyterian Church

November 7 | Houston, TX | Bayou Theater

November 8 | San Antonio, TX | Travis Park United Methodist Church

For more information visit lauralootens.com.

About Laura Lootens

With a sound that commands attention from the first note, Laura Lootens has emerged as one of the most exciting voices of the classical guitar. Her performances fuse fearless virtuosity with an impressive stage presence that is poised and dramatic, yet intensely communicative, drawing audiences into the instrument's kaleidoscopic colours and limitless expressive possibilities.

Every gesture carries emotional weight and a sense of theatre. At the heart of her artistry lies a fascination with contrast: for Lootens, tension and release are the lifeblood of music, the forces that create depth and keep listeners on edge.

Lootens recently debuted at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Other recent appearances as a soloist have included the Hessian State Orchestra Wiesbaden, the Heidelberger Sinfoniker, the Mittelsächsische Philharmonie, the Heidelberger Frühling and a show-stopping Concierto de Aranjuez for 5,000 listeners together with the German Radio Philharmonic.

Her second album Diabolico (Naïve, 2025) followed her acclaimed Albéniz debut and was selected by Apple Music as one of its Albums of the Month, spending weeks in Apple Music Classical's top charts. The Gramophone praises her exceptional command of the instrument and her refined sense for colour, contrast, and her capacity for pure theatre and drama across all the works, calling the album 'a compelling and darkly fascinating recital.' The magazine highlights in particular her layered, mature interpretation of Rochberg's Caprice Variations, revealing 'the Lisztian tension between the facile and the profound.' Lootens' debut recording Albéniz (CAVI/Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, 2023) was hailed by the American Record Guide as 'one of the finest interpretations of the composer ever captured.'

Among her honors are the First Prize and the Special Prize at the 2022 Andrés Segovia International Competition, one of the most important guitar competitions in the world. She also received a scholarship and the Special Prize from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben at the German Music Competition, and was awarded the Bavarian Award for the Advancement of the Arts.

Laura began her studies with Professor Franz Halász at the age of fourteen. Only one year later, she started her bachelor's degree as one of the youngest students ever at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. After earning her master's degree with distinction, she joined the university's faculty at just twenty-two.

Laura Lootens continues to captivate audiences with a musical imagination that is as daring as it is refined.

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