Scottish concert violinist and campaigner for music and arts in education, Nicola Benedetti, has received a CBE for Services to Music in the New Years Honours 2019 list.
About Nicola Benedetti
Nicola Benedetti studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School before going on to win the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2004 at the age of 16.
As well as touring worldwide as a soloist, she performs in a trio with cellist, Leonard Elschenbroich, and pianist, Alexei Grynyuk.
Nicola Benedetti is President of the European String Teachers Association UK (ESTA UK), Vice President of the National Children’s Orchestras (NCO), Board Member and official Big Sister of Sistema Scotland and Patron of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland’s Junior Orchestra, the Junior Conservatoire at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Music in Secondary Schools Trust (MiSST) and the Cumnock Tryst.
Challenging what it means to teach music well
Nicola Benedetti said:
‘This meaningful public recognition encourages me to deepen my commitment to music, to playing and to providing enrichment, inspiration and variation to the education system that serves communities throughout the UK. I am more resolved than ever to reinforce my advocacy for arts and culture and to challenge what it means to teach music well.
‘We often hear about the unintended benefits of studying music. We are also told that an education inclusive of the arts develops character. But let’s also consider the simple and profound beauty of just seeing and hearing people playing and singing together and offering something personal to an audience full of strangers. I have, so many times, witnessed the fulfilment, heightened emotion and sense of community this collective action produces. It shakes us out of the routine and connects us with a higher purpose. It is a truly beautiful, wondrous thing, worthy of our attention and our investment.
‘I only hope to prove my worthiness of honours such as this one through my continued and absolute dedication.’
For more information about Nicola Benedetti, please click here.
Header photo: Nicola Benedetti at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2013. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
