You may have gathered, either from my blog or social media, that I am a musician! Until now, I have kept this part of my life very separate from my blog - maybe this is because I wasn't sure if it would be interesting for me to write about or for you to read, maybe also because I wasn't sure if it would really fit with the content of my blog. However, I feel now that as these two parts of my life are so huge, it is only natural to combine them, and I am so excited to start writing about my life as a musician on this blog!
I have lots of ideas; I want to share a lot of what real life is in this business, the issues that come up (which I think actually relate to a lot of different career fields), what it is that I actually do and think about when I play music, and of course the music itself! I want to branch out too - I want to make music videos and make them available to everyone, I want to collaborate with other artists, come up with new styles of performance and write about it all here in the nook. I thought the best way to start off though, was to just introduce you to Freya, the musician.
I come from a family of musicians, so have basically grown up in this world. I started officially learning the violin at around 4 years old with my mother, but before then I would copy her when she practised, on a tiny violin of my own - she says it's the only way she could get any practising done herself! I wasn't always so enthusiastic about my violin lessons however; I remember my Grandpa taking me to my lessons with my first teacher every Saturday - he would have to bribe me to go to them with a promise of a trip to the pound shop after!
A picture of me at about 2 years old, amazed by these musicians - especially the violinist!
Off to violin class!
I don't know if there was ever a point where I made a conscious decision that I wanted to be a violinist for my job... everything else just seemed to fade away, all my other interests were taken over by my passion for the violin. I think I got really into practising as a teenager; I went from practising for about an hour a day to about 4 hours a day at the age of around 14. I think the whole subject of practice is very interesting, and it can definitely be applied to other professions - especially ones where years of dedication is involved - so I might write a whole blog post to this.
I ended up attending a music school in England for my last years of high school, and after that went straight on to study music (violin performance in particular), first at the Royal Academy of Music in London - where I was awarded a scholarship from Sir Elton John! - and then at the 'Mozarteum' University in Salzburg. I am currently finishing my masters there now. I have studied with a lot of amazing teachers, met some really incredible and inspiring artists, and I feel like I have gotten to see really emotional and personal sides of some great people, through their music. I really can't wait to share some of this on my blog.
I feel like classical music has a real stereotype attached to it, and to some extent I agree with it. I know a lot of people think that it is a very elite form of art, its not easy for everyone to access or understand, it's expensive, it's somewhat privileged. I am absolutely passionate about changing this. I know that a concert hall, for which you have to buy a (sometimes very) expensive ticket, where you go and watch people you don't know play old music that you've never heard of, where you have to sit very quietly for a couple of hours and then clap your hands at the end - this feels very far away from daily life! I have grown up going to concerts my whole life and even I have a lot of problems with this - especially because, in the days that this music was actually composed and first performed, the audience was much more involved in the show and very vocal about their opinions! I want to bring the music that I have a HUGE love for, to everyone! It really is incredible and life-changing, and I think that more people should get to experience it. This is one of my biggest creative project ideas, and I will be sharing a lot of my work on this blog, so if you are interested please follow me to keep updated!
As a musician myself, I love to play all different kinds of music. Of course composers that are totally essential to my life and that I have a profound love for are Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart.... could go on forever actually! But I also love contemporary music (I really like to work with composers themselves), experimental, jazz, folk - when I was in the US last year I got really into Country and Bluegrass music and have a book of tunes that I love to play from! I even like to play solo bits from some of the big pop hits! As an artist, I am interested in everything creative, that has something to say or a cool idea behind it, anything that inspires me.
I thought that I would attach a few little recording clips of me playing, so you can have a glimpse into what I do. I do have a whole soundcloud page with lots of different recordings on it - if you would be interested to have more of a listen please check it out. Unfortunately I don't have any good videos yes, but watch this space!
Just a snapshot of a concert in Holland! I was playing Janacek violin sonata - a gorgeous piece.
Here is a recording of me playing a piece called Poeme, by a French composer, Chausson. It is so romantic and passionate - I really love playing music like this.
This is another recording of me playing a sonata by Beethoven, one of my favourites!
I hope that this post has given you an insight into this part of my life and that you will enjoy reading about it - I am so excited to be sharing it here with you, and for everything to come on this topic.
