Laura Veltri

Biography
Articles

Born in 1996, I started playing guitar at the age of 9, and shortly after, also the piano. I enrolled at SLMC – Rome, to study Jazz Guitar and in September 2020 I presented my final thesis “Brad Mehldau: Compositional analysis and re-adaptation on guitar”.

I later moved to Denmark, where I began my journey as a composer and arranger (Aarhus Jazz Orchestra, Aarhus Sinfonietta), and big band conductor (Lisbjerg Big Band, 2022-23) and continued my activity as a guitarist (GuitarRama, Liberty Orchestra 2022, European Jazz’s Cool ’21). In September 2022 I received an Honorable Mention for my original piece “Sam” at “Scrivere in Jazz” – International Composition Competition for Jazz Orchestra. In June 2023 I obtained the master’s degree in Jazz Composition at The Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus (DK), with Søren Møller as supervisor, working on my first EP “Epitaphs from the Hill” with the Bignami Veltri Jazz Ensemble – 9-piece band co-directed with composer Anna Bignami. In June 2026 our debut album “Non-Places” was released under GleAM Records.

In 2023-24 I was an intern at HfMDK Frankfurt, in their special MA Big Band program in collaboration with the Frankfurt Radio hr-Big Band, which allowed me to record with the big band, and participate in numerous courses and workshops (Maria Schneider, Jim McNeely, Darcy James Argue, Guillermo Klein, Miho Hazama, Isjac Jazz Composers’ Symposium 2024 in Nashville, TN). I also composed a piece for the short film “BIRD” by Kristin Garrelts, performed by Kammerphilharmonie Frankfurt during the screenings of the short film, for the project “Musik für Stummfilme 2024”.

Currently, I collaborate as composer, conductor, arranger and production assistant with musical groups active in Italy (Orchestra Giovanile Filarmonici Friulani, DisOrchestra), and abroad (Orchestre National de Jazz des Jeunes of Paris; Frankfurt Radio big band; Berlin Youth Jazz Orchestra; FliJazzO) and I had the opportunity to play my music live with my ensemble BVJE at “Grande Notte del Jazz 2025” Teatro Grande di Brescia. In 2026 I founded Composers’ Collective Rome together with drummer Alessandra D’Alessandro.

Bignami Veltri Jazz Ensemble: Non-Places

Read "Non-Places" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
July 20, 2026

Non-Places is a large ensemble project from the Bignami Veltri Jazz Ensemble, led by Italian composers Anna Bignami and Laura Veltri. Their nonet, consisting of six horns and a piano trio, brings together some of the leading musicians from the Danish jazz scene. Blending composition, improvisation and slight electronic elements, the group takes influences ranging from contemporary jazz to experimental music. The album takes its title from the concept introduced by French anthropologist Marc Augé, who described “non-places" ...