Biography
British-American violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen is known for her visceral and deeply expressive performances in repertoire spanning six centuries. With musical storytelling central to her approach, she has gained a reputation for her “undeniably-fabulous playing” (Classical Source) and poetic performances that go straight to the heart. In addition to concerts with the 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 worked with conductors including Andrew Litton, Vasily Petrenko, Ben Gernon, Ryan Bancroft and Tamás Vásáry.
Her duo partners include James Baillieu, Huw Watkins, Cordelia Williams and George Fu. She is thrilled to be a Signum Classics Artist, for whom she has recorded over 10 albums to great critical acclaim “her interpretation is technically beyond reproach and musically imaginative” (Gramophone). 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 17th year, from which all proceeds go to support local charities.
Her interest in working with living composers and the music of today has led to premieres of works written for her by composers including Oliver Knussen, Huw Watkins, Dobrinka Tabokova, Freya Waley-Cohen, Richard Causton, Joseph Phibbs, Richard Blackford, and Deborah Pritchard amongst others. Upcoming projects include premiering new works by Erkki-Sven Tüür, Misha Mullov-Abbado and Gavin Higgins at festivals and venues including the Aldeburgh Festival, Lammermuir Festival, the Two Moors Festival and Wigmore Hall, as well as celebrating 40 years of Kurtag’s ‘Kafka Fragments’ with a number of performances with soprano Claire Booth.
She was the UK recipient of the ECHO Rising Stars Awards, touring all the major concert halls of Europe. She has also toured Japan, China and New Zealand and made her North American New York, San Francisco and Washington debuts. She was a founding member of the Albion string quartet, and appeared regularly with them at venues including Wigmore Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, and the Concertgebouw.
She is Artistic Director of the Two Moors Festival and has previously 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.