Emma Hancock – violin

Born in 1982, Emma made her London debut aged 10 in the Purcell room and at 14 she performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in the Queen Elizabeth Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the Grand Final of the Audi Junior Musician, broadcast live on Classic FM.

She has performed with the West Lakes Orchestra, Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, the Northern Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Sinfonia, Dales Chamber Orchestra, St. Cecilia Orchestra, Grimsby Symphony Orchestra, Wrexham Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bridgewater Band, the Westmorland Orchestra and Young Sinfonia, and has performed in France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Brunei, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Russia, Israel, and the USA as a soloist. She has performed in masterclasses with the Purcell Quartet, Milan Skampa, Janice Graham, Emmanuel Hurwitz, Rodney Friend, Lewis Kaplan, Vadim Gluzman, Eduard Grach, Itzhak Rashkovsky, Miriam Fried, Lorand Fenyves, Wen Zhou Li and Victor Danchenko.

In 1999 she won the Keldwyth Award, presented to Cumbria’s best young musician. In 2002 she was a National String Finalist in the BBC Young Musicians Competition, and her performance was broadcast on national TV and radio. An experienced recitalist, she has performed all over the UK, and has a strong interest in contemporary works, having had several specially written for her. In October 2002 she participated in the 3^rd International Yampolsky Violin Competition in Russia, where she was awarded the highest marks for her performance of Mozart, and then went on to perform with the Moscoviya Chamber Orchestra in the Great Hall of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, Moscow. With the Panormo Quartet she won the Helen Just and Susan Connell prize for string chamber music, and participated in a public masterclass with the Belcea Quartet at the Wigmore Hall. She has recorded a track on a CD, ‘Defiant Dames’, in aid of breast cancer. With the Celtic band Tarras she recorded ‘Rising’, which achieved No. 1 in the Folk charts and was voted Mojo’s Folk Album of the Month, and toured Germany, Holland and the USA. She also sings professionally, (her debut CD, ‘The Girl Stands’, is an eclectic mix of violin, fiddle, and vocal music), and is a published and recorded composer.

Emma studied at the Royal College of Music as a Foundation Scholar, where she received her BMus(Hons) First Class, and regularly lead major orchestras and ensembles, working with top international professionals. She studied violin with Ani Schnarch, and singing with Margaret Cable and was generously supported by the Emerton-Christie Trust. Emma has also received awards from the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, the Edmund Castle Trust, and the Musicians Benevolent Fund.

She is a graduate of the Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourse in Israel and the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Maine, USA, and was awarded a Jerwood Scholarship to study at the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove, where she was invited back to play amongst professional musicians of international standing in the Open Chamber Music course.

Emma will continue her studies in America with the concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Andres Cardenes.

May 2004

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