Laurence Jackson
Violin
It is a special pleasure to welcome Laurence Jackson to play with the NSO. Not only are his musical credentials impeccable (outlined below) but he recently married Sarah Firnberg, one of the orchestra's most popular violin members. Sadly, for us, this has meant that Sarah has had to leave the NSO to live in Buckinghamshire: she will be in the audience today to support both her husband and her ex-colleagues in the orchestra.
Laurence Jackson's early talents were nurtured at Chetham's School of Music before he gained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1984 where he studied with Emanuel Hurwitz, Maurice Hasson and Anne-Sophie Mutter. Prizes soon followed, starting with success at the 1985 Yehudi Menuhin Concours de Paris Competition. In November 1990 Laurence received First Prize at the International Violin Competition Dr Luis Sigall held in Vina del Mar, Chile. He was subsequently invited to return to Chile to give recitals and perform the Tchaikovsky concerto live on national TV. The following year, Laurence won Third Prize performing the Bartok Second Concerto at the First Sarasate International Competition held in Pamplona, Spain. In 1992 he returned to Pamplona to perform as soloist with the Orchestra Santa Cecilia and, later that year, made a highly successful tour of Argentina with the pianist, Scott Mitchell.
Since making his Royal Festival Hall debut in 1990, Laurence has forged a successful career both as a soloist and chamber musician. Laurence was appointed leader of the Maggini Quartet in 1994, with which he has toured throughout the USA, Canada and Europe to much critical acclaim. The Quartet is renowned for championing British repertoire, with world-wide sales of recordings for its British Music series exceeding 100,000 discs. The Quartet has won the Gramophone Chamber Music Award of the Year 2001, the 2002 Cannes Classical Award and most recently, its CD of Bliss Quartet No.1 and Conversations was nominated for a Grammy Award 2004. As well as his numerous award-winning CDs with the Maggini for Naxos, Laurence has recently recorded the John Jeffreys Violin Concerto (Meridian) and the Frank Martin Violin Sonata (ASV) with Iain Burnside (piano). Later this year, Laurence will be recording with the pianist Ashley Wass, the first of two discs for Naxos of the complete repertoire for violin and piano by Sir Arnold Bax.
Laurence is an Honorary Fellow of both Brunel University, London and Canterbury Christ Church University College and he was awarded an ARAM in 1998. Laurence plays a violin made by J B Vuillaume circa 1850.