Tasmin Little
Tasmin Little has firmly established herself as one of today's leading international violinists. She has performed on every continent in some of the most prestigious venues of the world, including Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Concertgebouw, Philharmonie Berlin, Vienna Konzerthaus, South Bank Centre, Barbican Centre and Royal Albert Hall, Lincoln Center and Suntory Hall.
Tasmin’s concerto appearances include those with Adelaide Symphony, Berliner Philharmoniker, Bournemouth Symphony, Berliner Symphoniker, City of Birmingham Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig, Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra, Poland, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Malaysian Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, New York Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto - Casa da Musica, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Singapore Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, West Australian Symphony and all the BBC Orchestras.
Her multi-award winning and varied career encompasses international concerto and recital performances, master classes, workshops and community outreach work. Tasmin's discography and performance schedule reflect her wide-ranging repertoire and she has given numerous World Premiere performances including concerti by Willem Jeths, Robin de Raaf, Stuart MacRae, Robert Saxton and Dominic Muldowney. Her newly commissioned work, Four World Seasons by Roxanna Panufnik, was premiered as a live broadcast on the BBC at the start of Music Nation weekend, leading up to the London 2012 Olympic Games. She remains one of the few violinists to perform Ligeti's challenging Violin Concerto and has performed this work at the Berlin Philharmonie, New York Carnegie Hall, Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Philadelphia Kimmel Center.
In her homeland, Tasmin returns regularly to the UK orchestras, recent performance including those with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to perform Walton violin concerts with Osmo Vånska, Szymanowksi violin concerto no.2 with Edward Gardner at the Barbican Centre, Tchaikowsky violin concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall and with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
In 2008, Tasmin launched her project, The Naked Violin, aimed at breaking down barriers to classical music by releasing a free CD for download on her website, and performing in the community where music is rarely heard. Within days of the CD release, 6,500 websites had linked to Tasmin’s site and within a few months, more than half a million people had visited and downloaded. The project was filmed for television by ITV’s The South Bank Show and continues both in UK and has toured in America, China, New Zealand, Ireland and United Arab Emirates (Dubai).
Tasmin Little is a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (FGSM), a Vice President of the Elgar Society, an Ambassador for The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts, and for Youth Music, and has received Honorary Degrees from the Universities of Bradford, Leicester, Hertfordshire and City of London. In 2016, she was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon RAM) by the Academy and the University of London. Tasmin is the recipient of the Gold Badge Award for Services to Music. In 2019, she won the BBC Music Magazine Personality of the Year Award.
In 2012, Tasmin Little was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Birthday Honours List, for Services to Music. She plays a 1757 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin.
In January 2019, Tasmin made the announcement that, after a long and exciting career, she has decided to pursue new directions from Summer 2020.