Anthony Marwood (Violin)

Biography

Anthony Marwood is one of the most distinguished violinists of his generation. Internationally renowned both as soloist and director, he collaborates regularly with many eminent ensembles around the world, including the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. As a soloist he has worked with eminent conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Sir Andrew Davis, Douglas Boyd, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Marin Alsop, David Robertson, Martyn Brabbins and Ilan Volkov. 

Highlights in the 2013/14 season included three trips to North America, firstly as soloist/director with the St Louis Symphony; then for the world premiere of Samuel Carl Adams’ Violin Concerto, written for him and commissioned by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, and lastly for trio concerts with Martin Fröst and Marc-André Hamelin in Boston and San Francisco and on to Les Violons Du Roy in Quebec. In Europe, Anthony debuted with the Kymi Sinfonietta, the Odense Symphony and Iceland Symphony Orchestras, and as soloist/director with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. On the chamber music front he joined Steven Isserlis and friends at Wigmore Hall and Thomas Adès at Milton Court. Trio performances with Martin Fröst and Marc-André Hamelin included a concert at London’s Wigmore Hall. 

Previous performances have included a critically acclaimed tour with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta as soloist/director and a tour of Australia with recital partner Aleksandar Madžar. Anthony also returned to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and gave three performances of Thomas Adès’ violin concerto with the Sydney Symphony. He gave the Austrian premiere of Steven Mackey’s violin concerto Beautiful Passing with the Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Wien, and his debut as soloist/director with the Vancouver Symphony.

Violin concertos that have been composed for Anthony include Thomas Adès' Concentric Paths, Sally Beamish’s 1995 concerto, and a concerto by Ross Harris, premiered with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. The Adès concerto was first performed by him in Berlin and at the BBC Proms, with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe conducted by the composer, and subsequently recorded on EMI.

Anthony Marwood’s most recent CD features Schumann’s violin sonatas, released on the award-winning Wigmore Live label, and described as “exemplary in every way… must now be the recording of choice in these works.” This is Anthony’s second CD for Wigmore Live, following on from the much acclaimed recording of the Brahms violin sonatas (both with Aleksandar Madžar). Other releases on the Hyperion label include Schumann’s late works for violin and orchestra, and of the Britten Violin and Double Concertos. In total Anthony has recorded more than 30 CDs for Hyperion Records. 

The Royal Philharmonic Society named Anthony ‘Instrumentalist of the Year’ in 2006. He is the co-Artistic Director of the Peasmarsh Chamber Music Festival and teaches annually at the Yellow Barn Festival in Vermont. He plays a 1736 Carlo Bergonzi violin, kindly bought by a syndicate of purchasers.