Fenella Humphreys
British classical violinist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fenella Humphreys is a British classical violinist[1] who specialises in classical and contemporary repertoire[2] as both a soloist and chamber musician.
Fenella Humphreys | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977 or 1978 (age 48–49) London, England |
| Genres | Classical, Contemporary Classical |
| Instrument | Violin |
| Website | fenellahumphreys |
Career and education
Born 1977 or 1978 (age 48–49),[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]
Award
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]