Violin

Nicola Benedetti is one of the most sought-after violinists of her generation. Her ability to captivate audiences and her wide appeal as an advocate for classical music has made her one of the most influential artists of today.

Nicola begins her 2023-2024 season with performances of the Marsalis Violin Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conductor Karen Kamesek. She will take up a residency with the Philharmonia with performances across the season including Brahms’ Violin Concerto with Cristian Măcelaru, Marsalis’ Violin Concerto with Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with Pablo Heras Casado. Further engagements include playing/directing the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with the Orchestre National de France and Cristian Măcelaru, and Simpson’s Violin Concerto with David Afkham and the RSNO, amongst many others. The 2023-2024 season also sees Nicola embark on a tour of Asia with the ‘Benedetti Baroque Orchestra’. This ensemble gathers freelance period-instrument players who collectively join together to create the highest level of collaborative and energized music making, directed by Nicola.

Winner of the GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo in 2020, as well as Best Female Artist at both 2012 and 2013 Classical BRIT Awards, Nicola records exclusively for Decca (Universal Music). Her latest recordings of Vivaldi Concerti and Elgar’s Violin Concerto entered at number one in the UK’s Official Classical Album Chart. Other recent recordings include her GRAMMY award-winning album written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin. In 2021, BBC Music Magazine named her “Personality of the Year” for her online support of many young musicians during the pandemic.

Nicola was appointed a CBE in 2019, awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music (2017), and an MBE in 2013. In addition, Nicola holds the positions of Vice President (National Children’s Orchestras), Big Sister (Sistema Scotland), Patron (National Youth Orchestras of Scotland’s Junior Orchestra, Music in Secondary Schools Trust and Junior Conservatoire at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). In 2019, Nicola formalised her commitment to music in education when she established The Benedetti Foundation. Since its launch, the Foundation has worked with over 29,000 participants, age 2-92, from 103 countries through its transformative in-person workshops and online sessions for young people, students, teachers and adults.

In October 2022, Nicola became the Festival Director of the Edinburgh International Festival. In taking the role she became both the first Scottish and the first female Festival Director since the Festival began in 1947.