Fenella Humphreys | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977or1978(age 47–48) London, England |
| Genres | Classical, Contemporary Classical |
| Instrument | Violin |
| Website | fenellahumphreys |
Fenella Humphreys is a British classical violinist [1] who specialises in classical and contemporary repertoire [2] as both a soloist and chamber musician.
Born 1977or1978(age 47–48), [3] [4] she studied under Sidney Griller, Itzhak Rashkovsky, Ida Bieler and David Takeno at the Purcell School, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule in Düsseldorf. [5]
A number of eminent composers have written works for Humphreys, including Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, [6] Sally Beamish, [7] Cheryl Frances-Hoad, [8] Gordon Crosse, [9] Adrian Sutton, Christopher Wright [10] and Piers Hellawell. [11] She performs standard repertoire and contemporary violin concertos including Thomas Adès's Concentric Paths, Pēteris Vasks's Vientuļais eņģelis (Lonely Angel) and Max Richter's Recomposed: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons, which she recorded in 2019 for Rubicon Classics. [12]
Her recording of Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto and Six Humoresques with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales was released in 2021. [13] In the same year, she released sheet music of a number of her own arrangements for violin that she performed during the Covid-19 lockdown. [14]
Humphreys plays on a G.B. Guadagnini violin. [5]
In 2018, Humphreys won the BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award for her solo CD Bach 2 the Future, vol.II. [15] In 2023, she went on to win the Premiere Award for her album Caprices. [16] In 2024, she released the album Prism, featuring new works including her own arrangements and the first recording of a work found on Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' desk following his death, titled A Last Postcard from Sanday. [17]
A 13-year-old girl is to have her song sung by a choir of 100 children at the Royal Festival Hall on May 11.
'You should've seen his face. He was amazed,' said 16-year-old violinist Fenella.