Vanessa Mae

Vanessa-May Vanacorn Nicholson is a British violinist, composer, skier, and singer. Known mainly for her techno reworkings of classical compositions. Performance style: “violin techno-acoustic fusion” or “pop violin”. Vanessa Mae has gained international fame for her modern rock arrangements of classical works.

Her name was even included in the Guinness Book of Records, but the artist does not consider herself an outstanding musician and worships the work of great predecessors and contemporaries. Lately she has been presenting her own compositions and performing as a singer. She is a serious skier. Her name was immortalized by astronomers, calling the asteroid 10313 “Vanessa-May”.

The first public performance of the young talent took place in Germany – nine-year-old May became a participant of the international music festival Schleswig-Holstein. Just a year later she became the youngest student of the Royal College of Music and played on the same stage with the famous London Philharmonic Orchestra. After studying for six months, Vanessa left the college as she had already outgrown her training in playing technique.

Her mother appointed herself her manager and promoted her daughter’s performances with all her might. At age 12, May recorded her first solo CD, “Violine,” with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the NSPCC (an organization fighting child abuse). Her performances have been broadcast on British television. The Guinness Book of Records named Vanessa the youngest performer (she was 13 at the time) to record violin concertos by Ludwig van Beethoven and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.