LAURA DAUSSE 

Laura was only four years old when she first sang the famous “Bell Song” from the opera Lakmé in the back seat of her father’s car. Encouraged by her father, himself a singer, Laura began studying music and made her stage debut at the age of eight at the Limoges Theatre. From then on, whenever she was not at school, she performed in galas and traveled across France on weekends alongside her father.

 

She trained her voice with a classical singing teacher and studied both piano and flute at the music school in Cahors, her hometown.

During the summer when she was eleven, she was invited to open for the singer Christophe, followed by Brazilian touring artist Nilson Chaves. Moved by her voice, he composed a song for her, which she performed in Portuguese. Shortly after recording it at Corydalis Studio in Limoges, Laura flew to Rio de Janeiro for a series of concerts at Mistura Fina, a jazz and bossa nova club. During this trip, she had unforgettable artistic encounters with artists such as Leny Andrade and Gilberto Gil. Deeply influenced by the experience upon returning to France, Laura developed a passion for jazz and Latin music.

 

At fifteen, she joined the Cahors Jazz Big Band as lead vocalist. At eighteen, she studied jazz and improvisation at the Toulouse Conservatory before moving to Paris a few years later. Little by little, Laura began performing in the capital’s jazz clubs and meeting musicians of her generation through jam sessions. At the same time, she developed a growing interest in classical music.

 

In 2012, at the age of twenty-three, she took a new direction and entered the DEM program in classical voice at the 18th arrondissement Conservatory in Paris, studying under soprano Sophie Hervé. Laura nevertheless continued her work in jazz and, in 2014, won a SACEM award for the composition and self-production of her first EP, Hear My Voice.

In collaboration with French pianist Laurent Coulondre, a two-time winner at the Victoires du Jazz awards, she recorded in 2015 an album of original compositions and revisited standards entitled Secret Facet. That same year, she formed her quartet and won first prize at the “Jazz à Vannes” competition, before being selected among the ten finalists of the “Shure Montreux Jazz Voice” competition, an experience that notably led to her meeting Al Jarreau, patron of the contest.

 

In 2018, in partnership with the Jazz in Marciac festival, Laura began writing a musical show for young audiences combining her two passions: Madame Classique et Mister Jazz. The show has since been presented at prestigious venues and festivals including the Philharmonie de Paris, Jazz in Marciac, Wolfi Jazz Festival, Théâtre de Compiègne, and Nîmes Métropole Jazz Festival. In 2021, together with Laurent Coulondre, she co-produced the Latin jazz album Meva Festa (with over one million streams), serving as performer, composer, and artistic director. They performed together at festivals such as the Nice Jazz Festival, Jazz en Ville Vannes, and Jazz à Foix.

 

In 2022, she joined the Bourges Opera Studio “La Fabrique Lyrique” for a year-long training program under the direction of tenor Jean-Francis Monvoisin, stage directors Catherine Van Hecke and François de Carpentries, and soprano Sophie Hervé.

In 2024, Laura joined the baroque ensemble I Gemelli alongside tenor Emiliano Gonzalez Toro and artistic director Mathilde Etienne for the recording of Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers, followed by a series of concerts in France and abroad, including performances at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Victoria Hall in Geneva, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and the Grand Théâtre de Provence.

Currently, Laura is composing for other artists and working on the creation of a hybrid ensemble blending jazz and baroque music, Baroque Playground, which will premiere in June

 

2026 at the Froville Festival. She will also soon appear as a guest artist on a tribute album dedicated to an artist she deeply admired for his genius, Hermeto Pascoal, who passed away last year.