Simone Lamsma

“.....This limbered us up aurally for a terrific account of Beethoven's Violin Concerto with Simone Lamsma as the sensational and glamorous soloist. Powerful in control, the young Dutch violinist drew silvery meticulousness and burnished tone out of the… that held her audience spellbound.”
– Fiona Maddox, The Guardian

Hailed by critics and audiences around the world for her distinct voice, maturity, technical brilliance and heartfelt musicianship, Simone Lamsma is one of classical music’s most thrilling rising stars. Conductor Jaap van Zweden with whom Simone enjoys a regular collaboration, describes her as one of the leading violinists in the world. Simone’s 2013/14 season highlights include debuts with the Chicago Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestras, Finnish Radio Symphony, Orchestre National de Belgique, Warsaw Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, as well as appearances with the St Louis Symphony and New Zealand Symphony. In addition, she will be embarking on a tour of China with the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden.

Simone performs with leading orchestras around the world. In recent seasons she has played with Europe’s London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Lucerne Symphony, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, National Polish Radio Symphony orchestras, Orchestre National de France and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Asia’s Hong Kong Philharmonic and Seoul Philharmonic; and with the Dallas Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Utah Symphony and St Paul Chamber Orchestra in the US and South America’s Sao Paulo Symphony, working with many eminent conductors including Sir Neville Marriner, Jaap van Zweden, Jirí Belohlávek, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, James Gaffigan, Sir Andrew Davis, Andrès Orozco-Estrada, Marek Janowski, Kiril Karabits and Yan Pascal Tortelier.

As one of the most successful Dutch soloists, Simone enjoys frequent collaborations with all major orchestras in the Netherlands, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Simone was awarded the national Dutch VSCD Classical Music Prize in the category ‘New Generation Musicians’ in 2010, awarded by the Association of Dutch Theatres and Concert Halls to artists that have made remarkable and valuable contributions to the Dutch classical music scene. In 2011 Simone was invited to perform during the Queen’s Day Concert, in the presence of HRH Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands – a concert that was broadcast nationally on Dutch television.

Also an active recitalist and chamber musician, she has performed in recital throughout Italy, UK, US, The Netherlands and during the Dvorák Prague Festival and the Sala Cecilia Series in Rio de Janeiro with Robert Kulek and Valentina Lisitsa as recital partners. Memorable chamber music project were among others the Verbier Festival at Schloss Elmau, where she performed with musicians as Martin Fröst, Lawrence Power, Denis Kozhukin and Jakob Koranyi, and the IJ-salon in Amsterdam with Emmanuel Ax and members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Simone began studying the violin at the age of 5. At age 11, she moved to the UK to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School before continuing her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she graduated with first class honours and several prestigious awards. In 2011, she was made an Associate of the RAM, an honour given to those students who have made significant and distinguished contributions to their field.

Simone’s debut recital recording, featuring works by Elgar (Naxos) was released to great critical acclaim. Her second release, featuring violin concertos by Louis Spohr with Sinfonia Finlandia, was hailed by the Spohr Society as, “one of the finest Spohr recordings ever made and the reason for this is the fact that Simone Lamsma’s violin playing is simply gorgeous.”

Simone plays the “ex Braga” Stradivarius, on generous loan to her by an anonymous benefactor.

For more information please visit: www.simonelamsma.com
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