Simonsen, Victoria (1983-Present)

Cellist and composer from Auckland, Victoria, New Zealand who attended the Auckland School of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, from whence she graduated in 2004.

She became Principal Cello with Opera North in 2005 and has also acted as Guest Principal Cello with the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Lancashire Sinfonietta, the Northern Sinfonia, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and Scottish Opera. Other groups with whom she has worked include The Barbirolli String Quartet, the Groves Piano Trio, Radius, and The Stillman Quartet, and The Tintagel Ensemble. For more intimate programs, she has collaborated with pianists, Sam Armstrong, Paul Guinery, Marisa Gupta, and Ben Powell.

In 2008, she won the Royal Over-Seas League Strings Competition. Her program consisted of “Sonata No. 5” by Luigi Boccherini, “Cello Sonata” by Claude Debussy, and “Adagio in A flat” by Robert Schumann.

She made her debut at the Purcell Room in London, England, on 8^th January 2009, with “Atta” by Lyell Cresswell, “Figura V/Assonanza” by Matthias Pintscher, and a “Sequenza” by Luciano Berio.

On 23^rd April 2010, she helped premiere Ian Vine’s “perfect objects” with flautist Jennifer George, clarinetist Sarah Watts, and violinist Julia Rumley, at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England.

Her own compositions include “City”, that was performed by the Royal Northern College of Music Symphony Orchestra and a string quartet that was premiered at the Sonic Skylines Festival in 2006.

She participated in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Last Night of the Proms in Derngate, Northampton, on 12^th June 2011. The program, conducted by Stephen Bell, featured guest soprano Rebecca Bottone singing Antonin Dvorak’s “Song to the Moon”, Giacomo Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro”, and Giuseppe Verdi’s “Sempre libera”, and Thomas Arne’s “Rule, Brittania!”. Victoria shone in particular on Henry Wood’s “British Sea Songs: Tom Bowling and the Hornpipe”.

In addition to her busy performing schedule, which has only been touched on here, Victoria has tutored at the Leeds College of Music and continues to teach the next generation of cellists.

Sources:

Simonsen, Victoria (1983-Present)

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