As artist in residence at the 2024 Elgar Festival, the violinist shares what the music of Elgar means to her, as well as ways she hopes to engage with audiences
Discover more Featured Stories like this in The Strad Playing Hub
As artist in residence of the Elgar Festival, as well as creative partner with English Symphony Orchestra, what are you most looking forward to in this festival?
This is my very first time at the Elgar Festival and I am extremely excited to be involved in different ways at this year’s festival. I am of course looking forward to performing in two concerts on the 31 May with ESO players, a recital including works by Vaughan Williams, Franck and of course Elgar, as well as a concert with a piano quartet where we will be performing a super fun programme of film music! I am also really looking forward to be meeting my friend Julian Lloyd Webber again during the ESO Youth Orchestra concert.
Tell us about the significance of Elgar’s music in your life. Could you share a particular piece of his that you love?
The piece I love the most from Elgar is his famous Salut d’Amour. It is the very first piece I ever played of his. Actually, I think it might even be the very first piece from an English composer I ever played!
Salut d’Amour is one of those pieces that I play again every few years and each time it feels different. It’s a bit like a movie you first saw when you were young, fell in love with and every time you watch it again you relate to it in a different way.
Watch Esther Abrami and Iyan Sughayer perform Salut d’Amour here:
You’ll be performing as part of ‘Club Elgar’ on 31 May. What can audiences expect from this performance? What are some highlights from this programme that you’re looking forward to sharing with audiences?
I am going to be performing repertoire from my latest album Cinéma as well as repertoire from some of my first album and EP at the ‘Club Elgar’ on the 31 May. I have hand-picked a programme that I love performing, in which I feel I can take the audience on a journey.
I will speak quite a bit during the performance, introducing the pieces to the audience on a personal level. It is also my intention to have some fun, including accessible pieces from film scores everyone loves, as well as giving the audience the opportunity to discover stunning pieces by incredible female composers they might never have heard before.
Esther Abrami appears at the 2024 Elgar Festival, which takes place from 27 May to 2 June. Find out more here.
Read: Queen Elisabeth Competition violin finalists announced
Read: Postcard from Utrecht: Netherlands Violin Competition and Night of the Violin festival
Read more Featured Stories like this in The Strad Playing Hub
The number one source for playing and teaching books, guides, CDs, calendars and back issues of the magazine.
In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.
The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.
American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.
No comments yet