Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little, OBE (born 13 May 1965)[1] is an English classical violinist. She is best known and widely acclaimed as a concerto soloist,[1][2][3] and also performs as a recitalist and chamber musician.[1] She has released multiple albums, winning the Critics Award at the Classic Brit Awards in 2011 for her recording of Elgar's Violin Concerto.[4]
Early life and education
Little was born in London and is the daughter of actor George Little, best known for his role in Emmerdale Farm.[5] She first learned to read music at age six while learning to play a recorder that her mother had given her.[6] She grew up in northwest London, attending the Yehudi Menuhin School on a scholarship as a weekly boarder between the ages of 8 and 18; among her fellow pupils was violinist Nigel Kennedy.[7]
In 1982 she was a finalist in the string section of BBC Young Musician of the Year.[8] After leaving school she went on to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she obtained a Performance Diploma[9] and won the Gold Medal in the school's annual music competition in 1986.[9][10]
Career
Little's first professional performance as a soloist was in 1988 with The Hallé.[8] She made her first appearance at the BBC Proms in 1990,[7] and has appeared regularly since.[11] Over the course of her career Little has performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic and other major orchestras,[9] and has released over 20 albums.[1]
Little has been an exponent of the works of composer Frederick Delius throughout her career,[12][13] and was the artistic director of "Delius Inspired", an eight-day festival held in Bradford in July 2006 celebrating his work which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.[14] She has also made a documentary on Delius for BBC Two.[1][5]
In 2008 Little released a three-track recording, The Naked Violin, as a free download from her website in a move aimed at making classical music more accessible.[2][3] The recording featured Bach's Partita No. 3 in E major, Eugène Ysaÿe's Sonata No.3 in D minor, and "Luslawice" by Paul Patterson, all performed unaccompanied.[3] The project won the 2008 Gramophone/Classic FM Award for Audience Innovation,[15] and was featured in an episode of The South Bank Show.[16]
Little received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bradford in 1996,[17] and the University's music school, the Tasmin Little Music Centre, is named after her.[14] In 2009 she received a British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Gold Badge Award,[18] and in 2011 her album Elgar: Violin Concerto won the Critics Award at the Classic Brit Awards.[4] She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to music.[19][20]
References
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- ↑ As recounted during an appearance on BBC Radio 3's In Tune program (10 April 2013)
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- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60173. p. 11. 16 June 2012.
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External links
- Use dmy dates from June 2012
- Pages with broken file links
- 1965 births
- Living people
- Musicians from London
- Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
- Academics of the Royal Academy of Music
- English classical violinists
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- People educated at Yehudi Menuhin School
- Women violinists