Nicola Benedetti

Recent winner of the Classical BRIT Award for Young British Classic Performer, violinist Nicola Benedetti has captivated audiences and critics with her performances and poise. An exclusive Universal/Deutsche Grammophon artist, Nicola recently released her third album, featuring a newly commissioned violin concerto, Lalishri, by John Tavener. Her previous two releases delighted listeners and critics, featuring Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, the work which catapulted her to nationwide fame after she performed it to win the title of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004.

Nicola's busy schedule has recently seen her perform with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Scotland and Spain, tour the UK with the Vienna Tonkuenstler Orchestra and tour China with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Earlier in the year Nicola embarked on an extensive recital tour of the USA.

In the coming season Nicola will continue to perform around the world appearing with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Brabants, Indianapolis Symphony, Kansas City, KBS Symphony Seoul, Japan Philharmonic Orchestras. She will tour the UK with a recital and chamber music programmes, culminating in a recital performance at the IndigO2 centre in London in March 2009.

In addition to her performance and recording activities, Nicola has devoted herself to humanitarian and educational causes. Since 2005, she has visited schools throughout the United Kingdom in conjunction with the CLIC Sargent Practice-a-thon, in which she encourages pupils of all ages to pick up their instruments and enjoy classical music. Nicola is also a UNICEF Celebrity Supporter.

Born in Scotland of Italian heritage, Nicola began violin lessons at the age of five. In 1997, she entered the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Natasha Boyarskaya. After leaving the Yehudi Menuhin School she continued her studies with Maciej Rakowski in London. She is currently taking lessons from Pavel Vernikov in Vienna.

Nicola plays the Earl Spencer Stradivarius (c 1712), courtesy of Jonathan Moulds.

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