Page 27 - BBC Music (January 2020)
P. 27
Nicola Benedetti
Building bridges:
‘I have a deep love
for, and belief in,
the power of music’
Nicola Benedetti has never
been afraid of a challenge.
Just as well, given that the
top violinist’s latest project is
her most ambitious to date.
She tells Richard Morrison
her bold plans to put music
at the heart of UK society
PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN MILLAR
Missionpossible
er colourfully patterned headband
is the most vivid sight on a grey
winter’s morning in west London.
But Nicola Benedetti’s mood when
H we meet is nothing like as sparky
as her accessories. ‘I’ve had zero sleep and I’m super
stressed,’ she says as we find a table in a busy café.
And just to underline her words she orders herself
not one but two double espressos.
I have known Scotland’s star violinist for
years, and am well aware of the iron resolve and
intellectual intensity lying beneath her surface
glamour. You underestimate her seriousness and
idealism at your peril. But this mood is something
else. She is a young woman who has set herself a
challenge that’s akin to climbing Everest. Now she
has reached base camp and can see the daunting
hulk of the mountain that lies above.
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE 29
