Nicola Benedetti

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Nicola Benedetti
Birth name Nicola Benedetti
Website NicolaBenedetti.co.uk

Nicola Benedetti (born July 1987 West Kilbride, North Ayrshire) is a Scottish violinist.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] At the Yehudi Menuhin School

Nicola Benedetti started to learn the violin at the age of four. By the age of nine, she had already passed the eight grades of musical examinations, 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. [1]

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 Concerto in D minor for two violins and orchestra. She played in a memorial concert at Westminster Abbey celebrating the life and work of Yehudi Menuhin.

In the following year (1999), Nicola performed for the anniversary celebrations at Holyrood Palace with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland in the presence of HRH Prince Edward.

In 2000, Nicola 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.[2]

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.[3]

[edit] "Playing With Passion"

In spring 2003, Nicola, invited as a soloist by London Symphony Orchestra and produced by Mattel Inc., participated in the recording of the DVD titled "Barbie in 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, filmed the documentary of Nicola Benedetti and her life with violin and broadcast it on national UK television in March 2004.

[edit] BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004

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, which was not an obvious choice, in the final at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland.[4] Because of this brilliant victory, she won the music section of the Top Scot award in December 2005.[5]

At the end of 2004, she agreed to a £1m six-album recordings contract with Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Group Classics and Jazz.[6]

Throughout the 2004-2005 season, Nicola took part in many prestigious engagements, including her solo recital debut at Wigmore Hall, royal events in Holyrood Palace and Windsor Castle for Her Majesty the Queen, and the Opening Ceremony of the new Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh.[7] Further performances included various joint ones with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and so on.[8]

[edit] Nicola's debut album in April 2005

Her debut album released on the Deutsche Grammophon label in April 2005 included Szymanowski's Concerto No. 1, the Chausson Poème, the Havanaise by Saint-Saëns, and a trio of contemplative miniatures by Massenet, Brahms (arranged by Jascha Heifetz) and John Tavener, the last of which, Fragment for the Virgin, was written for and performed by Nicola.[9][10]

[edit] Nicola's debut US tour in 2005

On June 2, 2005 she started her debut US tour with a performance for the exclusive Academy of Achievement Summit at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center, where she played the "Meditation" from Thaïs. She resumed her debut US tour on October 1, 2005, opening the 70th anniversary season of the Midland (Michigan) Symphony Orchestra playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor, op. 64 [11], followed by recitals at La Jolla's Neurosciences Institute, San Diego, California with the La Jolla Music Society on October 5, 2005, at New York's Merkin Concert Hall of Kaufman Center on November 1, 2005, at the Peace Center Concert Hall, Greenville, South Carolina, with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra on November 5, 2005, and others.

[edit] BBC Prom in the Park debut in 2005

In the meanwhile, on Saturday, September 10, 2005, Nicola made "BBC Prom in the Park" debut with the BBC Concert Orchestra in Hyde Park, London.

[edit] Practice-a-thon

In 2005 Nicola also undertook a tour of UK schools in conjunction with the CLIC Sargent Cancer Care for Children Practice-a-thon, which aimed to encourage people of all ages to find pleasure in music and pick up their instruments.[12]

[edit] Nicola's second album in May 2006

Her second album, recorded with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, was released on 15 May 2006. Works include Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor, Mozart's Adagio for Violin and Orchestra, Schubert's Serenade and Ave Maria, and James MacMillan's From Ayrshire, which was written especially for her.[13][14]

[edit] 2006-2007 season

 This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can (June 2008).

Nicola has played in concerts and recitals in major venues all over the world since her debut. The following below is not all of them:

[edit] UK classical chart performance

Album Chart Peak
Position
Szymanowski/Chausson/Saint-Saens 1 (2005)[15]
Mendelssohn/Mozart/Macmillan 2 (2006)[16]

[edit] Honorary degree

On the 27th November, 2007, Nicola was awarded a honorary Doctor of Letters by Glasgow Caledonian University at its graduation ceremony. Nicola is one of the youngest recipients of such an award.

[edit] References

  1. ^ About Nicola Benedetti (MYSPACE MUSIC) - She set her hands on a violin for the first time as a four-year-old Suzuki class member, an experience that reduced the Scottish infant to tears. Nicolas distress proved short-lived, however. Tears of uncertainty swiftly gave way to a passion for playing that propelled her through the eight furlong markers of graded musical examinations by her ninth birthday and onwards in September 1997 to a place at the Menuhin School, an idyllic haven for gifted young musicians set in rural Surrey.
  2. ^ 2004 Nicola Benedetti - Violin (BBC)
  3. ^ Benedetti makes music, not stardom, priority by Jessica Werb (straight.com)
  4. ^ BBC Young Musician of the Year competition (BBC), Violinist, 16, wins musical title (BBC)
  5. ^ Top Scot award ceremony 2005 (The Scotsman, 1 December 2005) - But the young stars of Scotland were snapping at their heels, with the teenagers Nicola Benedetti and Andrew Murray being awarded prizes for their contributions to music and sport, respectively.
  6. ^ SZYMANOWSKI - NICOLA BENEDETTI DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 987 057-7 (CLASSICAL MUSIC ARCHIVES ~ CD Reviews: Instrumental ~)
  7. ^ Scotland's poet Laureate composes poem for Holyrood opening (The Scottish Parliament, 1 October 2004)
  8. ^ Nicola Benedetti (IMG Artist)
  9. ^ Nicola Benedetti (IMG Artist) - It also includes shorter pieces by Brahms, Chausson, Massenet, Saint-Saëns, and a commissioned work by John Tavener.
  10. ^ Nicola Benedetti Plays Szymanovsky (IONARTS, 27.5.06) - Finally, she rounds out her program with two pieces created especially for her. Julian Reynolds's orchestration of Contemplation (Heifetz's arrangement of the Brahms song Wie Melodien zieht es mir) is a lovely thing, until now not recorded, evoking beautifully the poem that Brahms set (and which I find myself missing in this version). She is also the first to record John Tavener's Fragment for the Virgin, a piece the composer wrote for and dedicated to her.
  11. ^ Young violinist excited, apprehensive about U.S. debut at MSO (Midland Daily News, 29 September 2005)
  12. ^ Welcome to Practice-a-thon! (CLIC Sargent)
  13. ^ Nicola Benedetti: from prodigy to professional by Tim Cornwell (The Scotsman, Wed 10 May 2006) - The album also includes a new piece by the Scottish composer and conductor James MacMillan, entitled From Ayrshire. "His ear for orchestration is incredible", she says, "but he's actually writing for the violin, and the different effects that you can create on the violin. "It all works and feels very natural to do, but it's not like anything else I have done." After MacMillan was approached to write a piece, she expected and answer "maybe in five years' time". But, to her astonishment, he immediately said yes. The first, more lyrical, section of the piece is inspired by a Burns song, Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes. The second part is more like a reel.
  14. ^ Nicola Benedetti Plays the Mendelssohn (IONARTS, 11.12.06) - The rest of the program is a series of inconsequential miniatures -- some pretty Mozart, two Schubert arrangements (including a saccharine Ave Maria with harp accompaniment), and a piece composed for Benedetti by the talented Scottish composer James MacMillan -- all of which, except the last, feel like padding.
  15. ^ Violinist Benedetti, 18, to perform in La Jolla (SignOnSanDiego.com, August 12, 2005) - Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, who recently turned 18, has already performed for the Queen of England, launched a fancy Web site (www.nicolabenedetti.com) and recorded a CD with the London Symphony that's No. 1 on the BBC Classical Music Charts.
  16. ^ Sting adds another string to his bow as Sir Paul takes a bold stride into the world of classics, The Times, April 3, 2007 - Full List of Nominations ... Instrumentalist of the Year; Alison Balsom — Bach / Works for Trumpet & Caprice, Leif Ove Andsnes — Horizons, and Nicola Benedetti — Mendelssohn / Concerto for Violin

[edit] External links

v • d • e
BBC Young Musician of the Year winners
Michael Hext (1978) · Nicholas Daniel (1980) · Anna Markland (1982) · Emma Johnson (1984) · Alan Brind (1986) · David Pyatt (1988) · Nicola Loud (1990) · Freddy Kempf (1992) · Natalie Clein (1994) · Rafal Zambrzycki Payne (1996) · Adrian Spillett (1998) · Guy Johnston (2000) · Jennifer Pike (2002) · Nicola Benedetti (2004) · Mark Simpson (2006) · Peter Moore (2008)
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