Vanessa-Mae

Born in Singapore, 1978, to a Singaporean mother and Thai father, Vanessa-Mae moved to London aged four where she took up the violin, having previously studied piano. Aged eight, she embarked upon an intensive period of study with Professor Lin Yao Ji at the National Conservatoire of Music in Beijing. Vanessa-Mae then enrolled at London’s Royal College of Music to hone her technique. Vanessa-Mae made her world debut in 1988 at the Schleswig Holstein Festival in Germany and made her UK debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra that same year. She became the first artist to play with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra on their debut European tour, performing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. In 1991, at the age of 12, she was invited by the London Mozart Players to headline their Mozart Bicentenary tour of the Far East—the youngest solo artist ever to perform with the orchestra. By the age of 13, she had recorded three highly-praised classical albums featuring concertos by Tchaikovsky and Beethoven (the youngest artist ever to record these works), virtuoso showpieces by Paganini, Wieniawski and Sarasate, and new arrangements of her favourite classical and pop melodies. In 1995, at 15, she recorded her debut pop album, The Violin Player. She has since sold over 10 million albums, holding over 40 international awards for both pop and classical recordings, and her concert specials have been broadcast in over 100 countries. She is also an accomplished skier, representing Thailand at the 2014 Winter Olympics.