Post by roger on Jul 22, 2006 14:47:22 GMT
From icWales.com
Nicola Benedetti: life, looks and music
Jul 22 2006
Karen Price, Western Mail
VIOLINIST Nicola Benedetti may only be 18 years old, but she's already winning praise from international critics and audiences for her talents.
But as well as being a skilled musician, brunette Nicola also attracts much media attention for her glamorous image.
Although this doesn't worry the teenager too much, she'd start to be concerned if she became known primarily as a style icon.
"I've always said I'd hate to present my music, knowing that the main driving force (for audiences) was my image, rather than how great music can be," says the Scottish star.
"If I knew I looked better than I was playing on stage, I would come off stage absolutely miserable. But I'm from an Italian family and we're all very style conscious. I don't see why I should dress down just to avoid any negative comments - that would cause more of a problem, which would be frustrating."
Nicola, born in Ayrshire, has no reason to doubt her musical ability.
Since laying her hands on a violin at the tender age of four, she has put in a lot of hard graft to achieve her current success.
In September 1997, aged nine, she won a place at the Menuhin School, launched by the distinguished violinist Yehudi Menuhin for gifted young musicians.
She was soon performing solos at concert halls and Menuhin himself spotted Nicola's potential, offering her the chance to perform under his direction at Birmingham's Symphony Hall .
But Menuhin died just a month before the concert and Nicola went on to perform in a tribute to him.
She later went on to win Britain's BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, and performed with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera, before being snapped up by the Universal Classics and Jazz label, also home to Katherine Jenkins.
Nicola has often appeared on the same bills as the Neath singer, including at the Royal Variety Performance at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff last year.
"It was a great evening - I was sharing a dressing room with Katherine Jenkins and Charlotte Church. Although we were all getting on with our own thing, they seem fun.
"I've met Katherine quite a bit, as we are with the same record company, so we've appeared at lots of events together."
Nicola's now looking forward to performing in Wales again next Friday as part of the Lloyds TSB Welsh Proms Cardiff.
She believes her audiences are becoming more youthful, with young classical stars like herself, Bond and Vanessa Mae, are pulling the youngsters in.
"I do see a lot of younger audiences at classical concerts. If they see someone on stage who they feel they could speak too, it make the music more accessible."
Nicola's not the only talented musician in her family. Her elder sister Stephanie, who's 22, plays in a group of five violinists.
But there's no sibling rivalry.
"I think we're lucky because we like doing different things - she doesn't like performing on stage on her own, whereas there's nothing I feel more comfortable doing."
Roger
Nicola Benedetti: life, looks and music
Jul 22 2006
Karen Price, Western Mail
VIOLINIST Nicola Benedetti may only be 18 years old, but she's already winning praise from international critics and audiences for her talents.
But as well as being a skilled musician, brunette Nicola also attracts much media attention for her glamorous image.
Although this doesn't worry the teenager too much, she'd start to be concerned if she became known primarily as a style icon.
"I've always said I'd hate to present my music, knowing that the main driving force (for audiences) was my image, rather than how great music can be," says the Scottish star.
"If I knew I looked better than I was playing on stage, I would come off stage absolutely miserable. But I'm from an Italian family and we're all very style conscious. I don't see why I should dress down just to avoid any negative comments - that would cause more of a problem, which would be frustrating."
Nicola, born in Ayrshire, has no reason to doubt her musical ability.
Since laying her hands on a violin at the tender age of four, she has put in a lot of hard graft to achieve her current success.
In September 1997, aged nine, she won a place at the Menuhin School, launched by the distinguished violinist Yehudi Menuhin for gifted young musicians.
She was soon performing solos at concert halls and Menuhin himself spotted Nicola's potential, offering her the chance to perform under his direction at Birmingham's Symphony Hall .
But Menuhin died just a month before the concert and Nicola went on to perform in a tribute to him.
She later went on to win Britain's BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, and performed with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera, before being snapped up by the Universal Classics and Jazz label, also home to Katherine Jenkins.
Nicola has often appeared on the same bills as the Neath singer, including at the Royal Variety Performance at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff last year.
"It was a great evening - I was sharing a dressing room with Katherine Jenkins and Charlotte Church. Although we were all getting on with our own thing, they seem fun.
"I've met Katherine quite a bit, as we are with the same record company, so we've appeared at lots of events together."
Nicola's now looking forward to performing in Wales again next Friday as part of the Lloyds TSB Welsh Proms Cardiff.
She believes her audiences are becoming more youthful, with young classical stars like herself, Bond and Vanessa Mae, are pulling the youngsters in.
"I do see a lot of younger audiences at classical concerts. If they see someone on stage who they feel they could speak too, it make the music more accessible."
Nicola's not the only talented musician in her family. Her elder sister Stephanie, who's 22, plays in a group of five violinists.
But there's no sibling rivalry.
"I think we're lucky because we like doing different things - she doesn't like performing on stage on her own, whereas there's nothing I feel more comfortable doing."
____________
Roger
