Elizabeth Nott didn't quite foresee a career in music until she went on to live in London in 1999. Back home in Venezuela, where she grew up, Elizabeth took music and piano lessons from a young age, and classical guitar in her teens; she was also
pretty good at the 'cuatro' and recorder. However, she was mostly interested in reading about the mysteries of life and in drawing... After three years studying Modern Languages at university Elizabeth left her studies to travel to England and 'see what happened'.
During a short course in percussion and composition at Morley College in 2001, Elizabeth re-connected with her passion for music and enrolled in a full-time foundation course in music there. Discovering Ethnomusicology that year, she pursued that degree at SOAS (2003-2006) where she focused on Middle Eastern music and percussion. Her first mentor was Ahmed Mukthar on darbuka, then Ibrahim Al-miniawi and Tim Garside.
Elizabeth learnt to play riqq, bendir and daf mainly on her own and then developed it more through various workshops with Rowan Storm, Andrea Piccioni, Yshai Afterman, Glen Velez and Vasilis Sarikis.
Since graduating in 2006 Elizabeth has been working as session musician, teacher, events organiser and performed with various artists and events including:
Khyam Allami, Nadine Khouri,Maya Youssef, KARAMA, The Magic Tombolinos, Trio Shahnaz (feat. Khyam Allami on 'Ud and Shirley Smart on cello), London Gypsy Orchestra, Pocket Caravan, Ludomix, Amira Kheir, Kalia, Olcay Bayir, Opaz, Choreographer and dancer Florencia Guerberof (For 'Mi Patria Son Mis Zapatos'), ... BBC Radio 3, Royal Shakespeare Company, Linbury Theatre (Royal Opera House for 'Golden Journey'), Camden Fringe Festival, Busker Street fest in Switzerland...
Currently, Elizabeth performs with Tatcho Drom(Romany Balkan and Eastern Europen Music) lead by violinist Gundula Gruen; Fear of the Forest, a band playing original music by violinist, singer and hammered dulcimer player Kate Arnolds; Maya Youssef (Qanun player and composer).
Since 2015, Elizabeth Nott has been taking part in a project with pianist and conductor Charles Ketcham which explores the music of G.I Gurdjieff/De Hartman. Their first concert was at Sonoma University, California, in 2016.
Elizabeth's interest in music teaching draw her close to Dalcroze Eurythmics which she studied in London for two years. She has also been interested in the South Indian rhythmical vocalizations "Sulkatu" as a way to developing and understanding rhythm more. It was though various percussionist that she got in contact with it including Adrea Piccioni, Vasilis Sarikis and Glen Velez. These two methods together with Elizabeth's interest in body Percussion, take an integral part in her music teaching at schools and in workshops she organises every year.
For her promotions and workshops see 'Nottas Productions' page.
