Rebecca Hirsch

Among the most gifted of young British violinists, Rebecca Hirsch studied with Jaroslav Vanecek at the Royal College of Music in London, winning all the major violin prizes and awarded, in 1984, an English Speaking Union scholarship for study at the Tanglewood Festival. She gave her début with the London Sinfonietta at the Barbican playing Strauss* Bougeois Gentilhomme and was then invited to perform Arvo Pärt’s Fratres and Tabula Rasa conducted by Paarvo Järvi at the South Bank Centre, London. She has appeared as a soloist with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, Ulster Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Orchestras, and regularly leads The London Sinfonietta.
Rebecca Hirsch is regarded as one of Britain’s foremost interpretors of twentieth century music, exemplified notably in performances of works by important contemporary Scandinavian composers. Among these, Poul Ruders and Bent Sørrensen have both written concertos for her, with the award of the Nordic Music prize in 1996 for the latter’s Sterbende Gärten, of which she gave the first performance. She also gave the first performance of Kevin Volans’s Double Violin Concerto. Her recordings include the two concertos of Poul Ruders (the second of which, dedicated to her) and the concerto by Sørrensen, are released by dacapo.