Rodney Friend

Rodney Friend (born 1940, Yorkshire) is an English violinist.

Life and career

Born in Bradford, Friend's father was a local tailor. At the age of 12 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music after Sir Reginald Thatcher, the then principal of the R.A.M, heard Friend perform for the first time.^[1] Friend also studied at the Manchester School of Music.

At the Royal Academy of Music, Friend studied under the tutelage of Frederick Grinke.^[2] He later studied with Endre Wolf, Menuhin and Szeryng.

In 1964 Friend became the youngest ever leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, working closely with Bernard Haitink, Barenboim, Solti and Giulini. In 1975 he was invited by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to be their Concertmaster, playing concerts and recording worldwide with Bernstein, Boulez and Mehta.^[3]

In 1991 he formed the Solomon Trio with whom he toured Europe extensively.^[4]

In 2008 the first two volumes of his books The Orchestral Violinist were published.^[5]

Friend is at present an Artistic Director at Cambridge International String Academy at Trinity College, Cambridge.^[6] He plays a violin made by Giuseppe Guarneri dated 1696.^[7]

References