Violinist Esther Abrami records world premiere of ’Semplice Sempre’ by Shirley Thompson OBE

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French violinist Esther Abrami has released her new recording, Semplice Sempre by composer Shirley Thompson OBE under the Sony Classical label. 

Abrami, a fierce advocate for promoting works by female and other marginalised composers, said on Instagram: ’Honoured to have made with @sony.classical the world premiere recording of this brand new composition Semplice Sempre, by Shirley Thompson OBE @shirleythompsonmusic, the first woman in Europe to have composed and conducted a symphony within the last 40 years!’ 

For this recording, Abrami is joined by violinist Ellie Consta, violist Natalia Senior-Brown, cellist Heeyeon Cho and Lucía Polo Moreno on double bass. Together these musicians form a core part of the group Her Ensemble, a free form string group that seeks to address the gender gap and gender stereotypes in the music industry.

Its founder Ellie Consta told The Strad: ’It’s been an absolute joy working on this [single] with Esther. I’m so happy all this incredible music is being shared with so many people. It’s brought so much hope for future generations.’ 

This latest release is one of a number of collaborations between Abrami and Her Ensemble including their recent release of Rêverie by composer Angela Morley.

’It was incredible to have Shirley with us in the studio, being able to collaborate with us,’ said Abrami. ’No one has ever listened to Semplice Sempre before, so I’m really excited to hear people’s thoughts! I’m really honoured, first that Shirley has composed this piece for me, but also handed me such a personal work.

’In her own words, this is a composition she has written as an homage to her mother who passed away, and which symbolises the pure and simple love of a mother.’

Abrami rose to fame through social media, bringing a fresh perspective of classical music to new audiences. In 2019 Abrami became the first classical musician to be nominated in the Social Media Superstar category at the Global Awards. Since then Abrami has signed exclusively with Sony Classical, releasing her self-titled debut alubm earlier this year and hosts her own podcast Women in Classical in collaboration with the label.