Nicola Benedetti
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| Nicola Benedetti MBE |
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Nicola Benedetti at Royal Albert Hall
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| Background information | |
| Born | 20 July 1987 West Kilbride, North Ayrshire, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Violinist |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Deutsche Grammophon Universal Classics and Jazz Decca Records |
| Website | www |
Nicola Benedetti MBE (born 20 July 1987) is a Scottish classical violinist.
Contents
Early life and education
Benedetti was born in West Kilbride, North Ayrshire, to an Italian father and a Scottish mother.[1] She started learning to play the violin at the age of four. At age eight, she became the leader of the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain.[2] By the age of nine, she had already passed the eight grades of musical examinations while attending the independent Wellington School, Ayr,[3] and in September 1997 began to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School for young musicians under Lord Menuhin and Natasha Boyarskaya in rural Surrey, England.[4]
At the end of her first year (1998), she played solo in the school's annual concert at Wigmore Hall, and performed in London and Paris as a soloist in Bach's Double Violin Concerto (together with Alina Ibragimova). She played in a memorial concert at Westminster Abbey celebrating the life and work of Yehudi Menuhin.
Career
In 1999, Benedetti performed for the anniversary celebrations at Holyrood Palace with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland in the presence of HRH The Prince Edward.
In 2000, Benedetti performed with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Opera.
She played to the Prince again in 2001 when she performed a concerto with the London Mozart Players at St. James's Palace. Subsequent performances followed with the City of London Sinfonia, as well as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Opera, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, etc.[5]
In August 2002, she won the United Kingdom's Brilliant Prodigy Competition, broadcast by Carlton Television. She left the Menuhin School shortly after, and at the age of 15 began studying privately with Maciej Rakowski, former leader of the English Chamber Orchestra.[6]
Benedetti received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2010 [7]
In September 2012, she played at the Last Night of the Proms.
In the New Year Honours 2013 Benedetti was as a appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to music and charity.[8]
"Playing with Passion"
In spring 2003, Benedetti, invited as a soloist by the London Symphony Orchestra, participated in the recording of the DVD titled "Barbie of Swan Lake" at Abbey Road Studios. In October 2003, as the extra feature on this DVD, "Playing With Passion" was filmed and released by Mattel. BBC Scotland, using this DVD, created a documentary on Benedetti, which was broadcast on television in the U.K. in March 2004.
BBC Young Musician of the Year
At the age of 16, she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in May 2004, performing Karol Szymanowski's First Violin Concerto in the final at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.[9][10] Because of this victory, she won the music section of the Top Scot award in December 2005.[11]
At the end of 2004, she agreed to a £1m six album recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Group Classics and Jazz.[12]
Trio
Aside from solo performances, Benedetti performs in a trio with her boyfriend the German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich, and Russian pianist Alexei Grynyuk.[13]
Discography
Albums
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | UK Classical | ||
| Szymanowski: Violin Concerto No. 1 |
|
— | 1[14] |
| Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto |
|
— | 2[15] |
| Vaughan Williams and Tavener |
|
— | — |
| Fantasie |
|
— | 1[16] |
| Tchaikovsky and Bruch: Violin Concertos |
|
— | — |
| Italia |
|
— | — |
| The Silver Violin |
|
32 | — |
| My First Decade |
|
— | — |
| Homecoming - A Scottish Fantasy |
|
19 | 1 |
Honorary degree
On 27 November 2007, Benedetti was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by Glasgow Caledonian University. She is one of the youngest recipients of such an award. On 23 November 2011, Benedetti received an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh.[17]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Nicola Benedetti, interviewed during BBC Radio 3 broadcast of 2012 BBC Proms (aired Sunday 5 August 2012)
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ [1] Archived 10 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ [2] Archived 6 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60367. p. 15. 29 December 2012.
- ↑ [3] Archived 6 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ [4] Archived 7 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ [5] Archived 6 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Use dmy dates from August 2012
- Use British English from August 2012
- Pages using Template:Post-nominals with customized linking
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- Pages using Template:Infobox musical artist with unknown parameters
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- 1987 births
- Living people
- Child classical musicians
- Italian British musicians
- People educated at Yehudi Menuhin School
- People from North Ayrshire
- Scottish classical violinists
- Scottish people of Italian descent
