Fiona Pears

[Richard]

Thanks for the information, Belinda!

It's a great video and I've watched it several times. Ross, is that you appearing very briefly towards the right hand side of the screen just before the end, at around 3:35? I wonder if somebody can capture a screenshot!

Best Wishes from London,

Richard

[Ross]

You see my head at 3:35 with a blue cap and sunnies on. I also appear earlier at 2:59 dancing ( I have a black T shirt ).

[Ross]

I also appear at 3:04

[Joe]

Thanks for this Belinda! Wow...the video was brilliant! from That's Ross in the video...nice coverage on the filming day etc.

Cheers,
Joe

[Stephany]

Hello everyone,
I just came across a very nice article about Fiona from February 2007. She thanks Hayley & Gerald Westenra. Here it is :

BAREFOOT AND FIDDLING
Richard MAYS
9 February 2007
Manawatu Standard
© 2007 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. All Rights Reserved.

As a teenage busker in Christchurch, violinist Fiona Pears had a Mohawk haircut and was likened to Nigel Kennedy. Next Friday night, she plays at the Globe

Exceptional as a player and performer, Fiona Pears was apparently four when she demanded her first violin.

"I was taken to a violin concert, and so the story goes I cried and wailed until I got one." Born into a musical family in Ashburton, the precocious "Strad- struck" young miss had to wait until she was four and a-half before the instrument turned up in a Christmas stocking.

"I don't really remember, but I was learning the violin from that time."

After a short stint with Suzuki, Pears was taught privately, with her mother instilling into her the value, virtue and discipline of practice "... and all those sensible things. But I discovered I could do things if I put in regular practice."

It's a habit and focus that has remained with Pears ever since, and has enabled her to experiment, change the rules and push things musically. As a seven year old she was prominent at the Ashburton music competitions and made the front page of the local newspaper.

Skip ahead a few years and Pears turns up on High Street in Christchurch as a 13-year-old mohawk-and Doc Martens- wearing female punk Paganini.

"That was my alternative phase, and it attracted attention. It was good publicity. I was called a young Nigel Kennedy, but there was no way I was ever able to play the way he did when I was 13.

"By 16, I was out of it, and back to looking respectable."

Pears has Hayley Westenra and the singer's father Gerald to thank for her international prominence. A bit of a gypsy, Pears had taken her time over settling down, and had just returned to Christchurch from a long OE, where she had fallen in love with Celtic music.

"I bought a wee house at Brighton Beach with a dog, a cat and a mortgage and had started teaching when Hayley's father got hold of me, and I ended up joining her for her first world tour."

Now resident in the UK, the blonde bare-footed violinist made an instant impact when she accompanied Westenra on her first visit to Palmerston North early last year.

It's not only Kiwis she impresses. Three compositions and two pieces arranged by Pears have been performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

"That was really serious and I had to knuckle down and really focus."

Among big-name artists she has opened for are Il Divo, Tony Bennett and the late Victor Borge.

Returning to Britain in March, the musician embarks on a tour of Japan and Korea with UK choir, Libera, and also prepares for further concerts with Westenra. In the northern summer, she'll be playing on the UK festival circuit.

While Pears is used to the big concert halls and can choose whether to perform in front of thousands or just a few hundred, it is in the smaller venues where she is able to make direct contact with her audience.

"I want to see the people I'm playing for. I want to be able to see their expressions, and hear their reactions with nice lighting."

As for her bare-footed approach to performance, the 34 year old says it is not a gimmick.

"I do it because it feels good. Playing my style of music in high heels is not a good look, and bare feet keep you grounded."

Musical mastermind behind Pears' first solo New Zealand tour is English pianist, arranger and record producer Ian Tilley, also Westenra's musical director. Tilley was the guiding hand for Pears' third album Memories of Home, a strikingly eloquent and at times haunting combination of original gypsy, Celtic ballad and jig, Latin, Spanish, classical and swing jazz, with the addition of a few favourite standards.

"He has supported me so much. It's unreal to have him over here and helping pull this together. Musically we think along much the same lines."

Memories of Home, recorded in Christchurch and mixed in England, is an album that delights Pears. It reproduces 14 tracks of her distinctive and redolent violin pieces into which the performer has poured musical mementos of her recent trips home and abroad, and importantly, of the people she has met and remembered.

"I call them songs for the violin. I can't sing to save my life, so I use the music to tell a story. There are always stories behind the songs, and I like to background them as I go."

Next Friday's audience can expect an informal and candid experience from the artist in the Globe's intimate surroundings.

With Tilley on keyboards, Pears performs the tour as a trio, recruiting guitarist Tyson Smith.

"I used to play with him five or six years ago, and he is a very good player in his own right."

Next Friday's concert in the The Globe will be one of only three in the North Island

The city can, in part, thank Andrew London of Kapiti-based Hot Club Sandwich for recommending the Globe. Pears' violin has often filled a guest spot with guitarist London and bass player Terry Crayford.

Pears ends her New Zealand tour with a recorded Christchurch Cathedral concert.

Bookings for her Globe appearance next Friday, February 16, are through TicketDirect.

[Martin]

If anyone is interested then Fiona is appearing with her band in St Johns Chapel as part of the Chichester Festivities on Thursday 12th July (three days after supporting Hayley at the Cathedral). The concert starts at 8.00pm and costs £15.

Martin

[Eric]

Hi Martin and fellow Pears fans,

I have checked her website www.fionapears.com/fireandlight/gigs.htm, and it seems that she is supporting Hayley Westenra more than one night!

June 28 - Wales (UK)
June 29 - Grassington (UK) The Grassington Festival
June 30 - Telford (UK)

She is also in concert in London on June 26 (without Hayley, I'm assuming).

And as mentioned before, her schedule shows she is performing with Hayley at the Cathedral in Chichester, July 9.
3 days later, July 12, she is performing "with a mixture of UK and NZ musicians" at St. Johns Chapel (without Hayley).

I don't know if anyone is able to go, but if so, I would love to hear any reports or reviews about the concert.

Cheers, Eric

[Caitlin]

What a wonderful video!!
I love Fiona's playing and music.

I spotted Ross and tried to do some screen captures like Richard had suggested, but I wasn't able to make them work. Maybe tomorrow!
<3 Caite

[Mark]

Hi Everyone

Just thought I would mention that I had a word with Fiona after the BBC Cardiff concert, I was asking her if she was supporting Hayley in Telford this Saturday (16th June). She confirmed that she was and also told me that she was looking forward to it as she was performing 3 solo's I would imagine that this means there will be no other supporting act, just like when Hayley did most of the church concerts in 2005. Thats great isnt it, Fiona's expert playing facinates me and I for one am looking forward to hearing her again on Saturday.

Best regards
Mark

[grant]

tinky3344 said:

Hi Everyone

Just thought I would mention that I had a word with Fiona after the BBC Cardiff concert, I was asking her if she was supporting Hayley in Telford this Saturday (16th June). She confirmed that she was and also told me that she was looking forward to it as she was performing 3 solo's I would imagine that this means there will be no other supporting act, just like when Hayley did most of the church concerts in 2005. Thats great isnt it, Fiona's expert playing facinates me and I for one am looking forward to hearing her again on Saturday.

Best regards
Mark

Hi Mark

That is good news. When Fiona is with Hayley, she usually does a 'spot' to give Hayley a break thus no need for a support act.

No disrespect to Al, but I hope Ian is there also.

Best wishes
Grant

[Steve H]

Hi Mark,

Not long now, that's great news that Fiona is doing some solo's on Saturday, what time are you planning on meeting at up at the church? I take it there are no allocated seats so it's first come first served!

I am really looking forward to it, specially as I missed the one there last year It will give me a chance to try out my new camera!

Steve H

[Belinda]

Hi Everyone,

Great news the Christ Church Cathedral concert earlier this year
25th Feb if i remember rightly, will be out on DVD
It will be available at the end of the year when Fiona tours again i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
and available to the rest of the world after Xmas
Info from Fiona's news section on her site

Belinda

[Mark]

Hi Belinda

Thats great news. I'll keep an eye open for that early next year.

Best wishes
Mark

[Belinda]

Heres an old article From The Christchurch Press) 2002

Spanish fliers

Bravura violinist Fiona Pears knows only three things about Sri Lanka: "That they speak Sinhalese, that there are three different religions, and that it is stinkin' hot!" This is all about to change in a few weeks, though, when she and the band Zardas -- Simon Lusby on bass, Misha Marks, guitar, and Sum Suraweera, drums -- tour the island. Suraweera, who has friends and family in Sri Lanka, has organised much of the seven- week tour, which will see Zardas perform their Spanish gipsy-style jazz and originals in concert all over the country, some performances with Sri Lankan pop stars. To help fund the trip, Zardas is performing a farewell fundraiser tomorrow night at the Harbour Light. Fiona says the concert will be a mix of old favourites plus four new originals.

* Zardas, Harbour Light, Sunday. Doors open 6.30pm, starts 7.30pm, $12 (door sales only).
I gather its the same Misha from the chichester concert
Belinda

[roger]

Hi Belinda,

Yes, it is the same Misha. It seems he has known Fiona for a while so maybe it was her that introduced him to Hayley. That is only supposition though - not a known fact.

Roger