Tamsin Waley-Cohen, violin

Biography

Born in London, Tamsin Waley-Cohen enjoys an adventurous and varied career. In addition to performing with the City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Hallé, Liverpool Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia and BBC orchestras, amongst others, she has twice been Associate Artist with the Orchestra of the Swan and have worked with conductors such as Andrew Litton, Vasily Petrenko, Ben Gernon, Ryan Bancroft and Tamás Vásáry.

Her duo partners include pianists James Baillieu, George Fu, and Huw Watkins. She gave the premiere of Watkins’ Concertino, and in Autumn 2020 premiered his Violin Sonata with him at Wigmore Hall. She is thrilled to be a Signum Classics Artist, for whom she has recorded over a dozen discs, ranging from CPE Bach to John Adams, Dvorak to Carter, and frequently winning 5 star reviews, and Editors and Critics choice accolades.

Tamsin is committed to working closely with composers who are her contemporaries and performing their works. With her sister, composer Freya Waley-Cohen, and architects Finbarr O’Dempsey and Andrew Skulina, she held an Open Space residency at Aldeburgh, culminating in the 2017 premiere of Permutations at the Aldeburgh Festival, an interactive performance artwork synthesising music and architecture. Her love of chamber music led her to start the Honeymead Festival, now in its fifteenth year, from which all proceeds go to support local charities.

Tamsin was a founding member of the recently disbanded Albion Quartet, and had appeared regularly with them at venues including Wigmore Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, and the Concertgebouw. In 2016-2017 she was the UK recipient of the ECHO Rising Stars Awards, playing at all the major European concert halls and premiering Oliver Knussen’s "Reflection", written especially for her and Huw Watkins. During the 2018-19 season, she toured Japan and China, and also gave her New York Debut recital at the Frick. She most recently made her Washington DC recital debut at the Phillips Collection with pianist George Fu and her San Francisco recital debut for San Francisco Performances at Herbst Theater with pianist James Baillieu.

Tamsin is Artistic Director of the Two Moors Festival, and previously has been Artistic Director of the Music Series at the Tricycle Theatre, London, and the Bargello festival in Florence. She studied at the Royal College of Music and her teachers included Itzhak Rashkovsky, Ruggiero Ricci, and András Keller.

July 2023. Please discard any previously dated materials.