Candida Thompson is a British violinist.

Biography

Thompson was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. She has been living in Amsterdam since 1992. She studied with David Takeno at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

in London, where she received her soloist's graduation diploma with honour. She developed her qualities further at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. She also participated in various national and international competitions and received several prizes. Currently she plays a Guarneri 'del Gesù violin on loan from a private collector.

Career

Ensemble work

Thompson has been involved in

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

and

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

s most of her playing life. She has directed orchestras in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and the UK such as Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Mozart Players, Camerata Salzburg. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with musicians such as

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

, Bruno Giuranna,

Frans Helmerson Frans Helmerson (born 1945) is a Swedish cellist, pedagogue, and conductor. Biography Helmerson was born in 1945 and by the age of 8 began playing cello. Later on, he studied with Guido Vecchi in Götheborg, Giuseppe Selmi in Rome, and with Willi ...

, Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, David Kuyken and performed at many festivals such as

Kuhmo Kuhmo (known as ''Kuhmoniemi'' until 1937) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and a municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland and is located at the south-eastern corner of the Kainuu regions of Finland, region. The municipali ...

(Finland),

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

(Italy), International Chamber Music Festival

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

(the Netherlands) and La Musica (the USA). Thompson has been a regular guest artist at La Musica Chamber Music Festival in Florida for the past 7 years collaborating with artists such as Bruno Giuranna, Joseph Silverstein, Isabelle Faust and Frans Helmerson. She appeared at the Boston Chamber music festival in July 2007 and participated in the Finnish Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival and at the Gubbio Chamber Music festival.

Solo performances

Thompson performed as a soloist with orchestras such as Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, English String Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra,

Holland Symfonia Het Balletorkest (literal translation, ''The Ballet Orchestra'') is a Dutch symphony orchestra, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, affiliated with Het Nationale Ballet and the Nederlands Dans Theater. History In 1965, the ''Nederlands Balletorkest'' ...

and Camerata Nordica, one of Sweden's leading chamber orchestras. She gave solo concerts in England, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Florida and Hong Kong. Most recently she performed in the prestigious Saturday Matinee series at the

Concertgebouw Concertgebouw may refer to one of the following concert halls: * Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands * Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium * Concertgebouw de Vereeniging, Netherlands {{disambiguation Buildings and structures disambiguation pages ...

in Amsterdam.

Work with Amsterdam Sinfonietta

Thompson has been 's

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

and leader since 2003. This

of twenty-two players, founded in 1988, performs under her guidance with a strong conviction that similarly minded players are stronger as a group if each individual upholds the responsibility. In the recent past Amsterdam Sinfonietta has performed both in the Netherlands and abroad with soloists such as

Murray Perahia Murray David Perahia ( ; born April 19, 1947) is an American pianist and conductor. He has been considered one of the greatest living pianists. He was the first North American pianist to win the Leeds International Piano Competition, in 1972. ...

Thomas Hampson Thomas Walter Hampson (born June 28, 1955) is an American lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in major opera houses and concert halls and made over 170 musical recordings. Hampson's operatic repertoire spans a range ...

Maxim Vengerov Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (; born 20 August 1974) is a Soviet-born Israeli violinist, violist, and conductor. Classic FM has called him "one of the greatest violinists in the world". Vengerov was born in Novosibirsk, the only child of Al ...

, , Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Giovanni Sollima, Martin Frost and

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer (; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holocaust. His mother had ...

. The orchestra also actively commissions composers such as

HK Gruber Heinz Karl "Nali" Gruber (born 3 January 1943), who styles himself HK Gruber professionally, is an Austrian composer, conductor, double bass player and singer. He is a leading figure of the so-called Third Viennese School. Career Gruber is said ...

Thomas Larcher Thomas Larcher (born 16 September 1963, in Innsbruck) is an Austrian composer and pianist. Biography and Work Thomas Larcher completed his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna under Heinz Medjimorec and Elisabeth Leonsk ...

, John McCabe and Michel van der Aa.

Recordings

Thompson made a number of chamber music recordings. She released a CD "Dutch violin sonatas" together with the pianist David Kuyken. ''The

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n Album'' is Thompson's most recent recording with Amsterdam Sinfonietta. As soon as released, it has been chosen by Classic FM the CD of the week in the UK. This recording for Channel Classics combines

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

's romantic Serenade with two surprising works from the nineteen twenties by

Pavel Haas Pavel Haas (21 June 189917 October 1944) was a Czech composer who was murdered during the Holocaust. He was an exponent of Leoš Janáček's school of composition, and also utilized elements of folk music and jazz. Although his output was not l ...

and

Erwin Schulhoff Erwin Schulhoff (; 8 June 189418 August 1942) was an Austro-Czech composer and pianist. He was one of the figures in the generation of European musicians whose successful careers were prematurely terminated by the rise of the Nazi regime in Germ ...

. This repertoire combination is typical for the Amsterdam Sinfonietta's concept of programming. Their previous release of Beethoven's String Quartet, op. 135, and Walton’s Sonata for Strings under Thompson's leadership was much acclaimed and chosen CD of the month in ''

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

'',

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Recording of the Week and received a 10/10 from ''Luister Magazine''. Another recording with Amsterdam Sinfonietta were new arrangements of String quartets No. 2 and No. 4 by

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

. This CD received an Opus d'or, a Best of the year disc by '' Audiophile Audition'' and 10/10 by ''Classics Today''. As Amsterdam Simfonietta's leader, Thompson also recorded for Channel Classic the Piazzola seasons together with Ginestras Concerto for Strings. She is a member of the Hamlet Piano Trio together with Paolo Giacometti and Xenia jankovic, they have recorded discs of Mendelssohn, Schubert and Beethoven Piano trios for Channel Classics.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Candida Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Living people 1967 births 21st-century British classical violinists 21st-century British women musicians British women classical violinists