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Victoria Simonsen
Cello
Described as 'a musician of rare quality' by The Strad and 'beautifully sensitive and composed' by The Times, Victoria Simonsen is in great demand as soloist and chamber musician.
Simonsen was winner of the 2008 Royal Over-Seas League Strings Competition, adding to her existing competition accolades which include the Barbirolli Cello Prize, Leonard Rose Prize, Countess of Munster’s ‘Star Award’, New Zealand Young Musician of the Year, New Zealand Performer of the Year, Royal Over-Seas League Travelling Scholarship and the prestigious Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Born in 1983 in Auckland, New Zealand, Simonsen has lived in England since 2002. She regularly collaborates with several brilliant young pianists and was a Solo Artist on the Countess of Munster's Recital Scheme 2007-2009. In 2008 she was selected as a Park Lane Group ‘Young Artist’, under which she made her Purcell Room debut in 2009.
Simonsen has performed widely not only in the UK but also in France, Far East Asia and New Zealand. She is a regular concerto soloist with orchestras both in the UK and New Zealand. UK recital highlights include Queen Elizabeth Hall, St David's Hall Cardiff, BBC Proms Composer Portrait, Leeds International Recital Series, Ryedale Festival, Manchester International Cello Festival, Dartington International Festival, Buxton Festival, Magnus Lindberg Festival Manchester and Ripon Cathedral. Masterclasses have included Mstislav Rostropovich, Anner Bylsma, Ralph Kirshbaum, Maria Kliegal, Gary Hoffman and Bernard Greenhouse.
As a committed chamber musician, Simonsen is regularly invited to the IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music Sessions and for six years, until mid-2009, she was a member of the Barbirolli Quartet. During that time the quartet's achievements included being selected by the European Concert Halls Organisation (ECHO) for the prestigious 'Rising Stars' series, winning a Tunnell Trust Award, a Kirckman Concert Society Award, The Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme, 'Quartet in Residence' at Salford University and a Guildhall Artists Fellowship. Engagements with the quartet included the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, The Chelsea Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, St David's Hall Cardiff, Harrogate International Festival, Manchester Mid-Day in Bridgewater Hall and St John’s, Smith Square.
Whilst still a student, Simonsen was appointed Section Principal Cellist of the Orchestra of Opera North (2005-2007) and has been Guest Principal Cellist with orchestras such as Scottish Opera, Philharmonia, Northern Sinfonia and Lancashire Sinfonietta. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in 2004 with a Masters degree, gaining distinctions in both performance and composition. Her interest in contemporary music lead to studies with Anthony Gilbert and her own compositions include a work performed by the RNCM Symphony Orchestra and a string quartet premiered at the 2006 Sonic Skylines Festival. At the RNCM she studied cello with Ralph Kirshbaum and Karine Georgian and in 2006 was awarded the Gold Medal, the highest award bestowed by the college, and at the same competition was voted winner of the Audience Prize. Her studies were enabled by the generous financial support from the Countess of Munster Trust, Patricia Pratt Scholarship, Creative NZ, Philharmonia/Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and the Craxton Memorial Trust.
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