Harriet Mackenzie
Violin
Harriet Mackenzie is an internationally renowned concerto soloist and has performed across five continents. Recordings include concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Nova and the English Symphony Orchestra.
She has performed in the world’s most prestigious halls such as the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Budapest Marble Hall, Purcell Room, Auditorio Nationale Madrid, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, Seoul International Concert Hall, and Kyiv Hall of Marble Columns.
In addition to her solo work she is a lover of chamber music and is a founder member of Kosmos Ensemble, Retorica, Karolos Ensemble. She also performs with pianists Christopher Glynn, Danny Driver and guitarists Morgan Szymanski and James Boyd.
Harriet taught on the ‘Musique et Adventure’ course in Jersey, and she has toured Great Britain giving educational concerts and workshops on the “Live Music Now! Scheme” in prisons, care homes, special schools and to anyone with little or no access to live music.
She graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with First Class Honours, M.Mus and DipRAM. In 2015 she was awarded the Richard Carne Fellowship at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and in the same year, she was also made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM).
This year (2019) she will be recording John McCabe’s violin concerto on the Nimbus Label with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales; performing concertos performances with the London Chamber Orchestra and her Celoniatus Ensemble; and the release of the third CD by Kosmos Ensemble on the Nimbus Label.
Greatest Musical Inspiration
It’s hard to pin this down to one thing, or one person. My first teacher Sheila Nelson was – and continues to be – an enormous inspiration every day. Her enthusiasm and imagination have left me with such a wonderful legacy. I’m inspired by so many wonderful composers and performers from Mozart, Bach, Jimi Hendrix, Julian Joseph, Ella Fitzgerald, Kronos Quartet, Stefan Grapelli, Roby Lakatos to name a few! I’m also constantly inspired by nature and the world we live in.
Best Musical Advice
Never give up. Great things take time. Have patience. It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. And listen. Listen to as much music as you can. Find what you love and aim for it.