Ballymascanlon violinist Jennifer flies in for National Concert Hall
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BALLYMASCANLON violinist Jennifer Murphy returns home from Canada to give a concert with the RTE Concert Orchestra in the John Field Room at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, this evening, Tuesday August 22.
The 28 year old has been living in Toronto, Canada for the past three years, where she is a Rebanks Family Fellow at the Royal Conservatory of Music.
‘Since being here, I have had many opportunities to perform as a soloist and chamber musician all over Canada,’ she says. ‘I just returned from the Music by the Sea festival in B.C., where I played concerts with some of Canada’s foremost musicians.’
Jennifer, whose mother is Setanta choir director Una Murphy, began playing the violin when she was just six or seven years of age. Her teachers included Sharon Treacy, Catherine Dooley and Patricia Treacy.
She was a member of the Cross Border Orchestra for almost ten years and was orchestra leader for their concerts in famous venues such as Carnegie Hall, New York and the Boston Symphony Hall.
She moved to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and attained her Master of Arts in violin Performance from the Royal Academy of Music in June 2014.
She moved to Canada to study at The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where she recently received her Artistic Diploma.
During her time there, she was one of what the school called ‘seven extraordinary concert artists’ from around the world ac- cepted into its prestigious Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency Program, for artists on the cusp of a professional career.
Last summer she was invited to perform as a Fellowship Artist at the Music by the Sea Festival in British Columbia.
Looking back on the past year, Jennifer said: ‘ The highlight of my time in Toronto was a concerto performance in April of this year in Koerner Hall, which is one of the most beautiful venues I’ve ever had the privilege of playing in. I was the soloist for a performance of the Korngold Violin Concerto with Bramwell Tovey conducting the Royal Conservatory Orchestra. Maestro Tovey is the music director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and he actually won a Grammy award for his recording of the Korngold Concerto so it was a real honour for me to work with him.’
Her time in Canada sees her building on her reputation as an exciting young classical performer, who has performed throughout Europe and North America, including appearances at London’s Barbican Centre, The Banff Centre, Canada and The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto.
For this evening’s concert in the John Field Room, she will be accompanied by the Toronto based pianist Qiao Yi Miao.
The programme includes Brahms’ Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op.100, ‘ Much Ado About Nothing’ by Korngold, and Schumann’s Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op.121.
‘After my concert in the John Field Room, I will be returning to Toronto to record some music in Koerner Hall,’ said Jennifer. ‘ Then I have some exciting concerts coming up both in Canada and at home in Ireland over the next year, including a performance in Dundalk with the RTE Concert Orchestra in February 2018.’
Jennifer plays a beautiful Chanot violin, dated 1836, kindly on loan from The Royal Conservatory of Music, and is generously supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.