World famous violinist Nicola Benedetti makes shortlist for Scotswoman of the Year

Last, but by no means least, it is the turn of Nicola Benedetti, world-famous classical violinist and passionate supporter of young people in music.

ANN FOTHERINGHAM reports.

NICOLA Benedetti knows our Scotswoman of the Year event well.

She has been a guest, and she performed at the gala dinner in 2004 – the year she won BBC Young Musician of the Year at the age of 16.

Now she is over the moon to be on the shortlist for the 2021 award.

“I am delighted to be nominated for the Glasgow Times Scotswoman of the Year and to be part of such an illustrious shortlist,” she says.

“I love Scotland and my roots are really important to me. I come back as often as I can both to see my family and to perform.”

She adds: “It’s an honour to be considered for Scotswoman of the Year. Thank you so much.”

Nicola, from West Kilbride, is one of the world’s greatest musicians, and a passionate advocate of the benefits of music for young people.

She was a musical prodigy who won a place at the Yehudi Menuhin school aged just nine. She has played at the Carnegie Hall and on the last night of the Proms, as well as at the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.

A Grammy and Brit award winner, she is now one of the most recognisable faces in the world of classical music and one of its most ardent and eloquent advocates.

“Music is the art of all the things we can’t see or touch,” she once wrote. “We need it in our lives.”

Born in Irvine, the daughter of a self-made millionaire, Nicola has performed around the world and recorded a number of award-winning albums, most recently Baroque which included her performances of the music of Vivaldi.

She has won multiple honours - in 2017, she became the youngest ever recipient of the Queen’s Medal for Music, she has nine honorary degrees and in 2019, she was given the Royal Medal award by the Royal Society of Edinburgh for improving the lives of deprived Scottish children through Sistema Scotland and the Big Noise Orchestras.

Nicola is passionate about music education.

A year after winning Young Musician of the Year, she signed a seven-figure recording contract – and was already thinking about how she could use her new-found fame and position to help young people.

In an article in the Evening Times, she announced she would be visiting dozens of primary schools across Scotland in a bid to inspire young children to take up music.

She said: “Classical music is wonderful but a lot of youngsters simply don’t hear it. There’s not enough exposure.”

The Benedetti Foundation has worked with nearly 30,000 young musicians in more than 100 countries since Nicola set it up three years ago.

During the pandemic and lockdown, the Foundation went online with “virtual sessions” providing more than 7000 musicians across the globe with online tutorials and inspirational workshops.

Nicola was appointed a CBE in 2019, and she holds the positions of Vice President of the National Children’s Orchestras, Big Sister of Sistema Scotland and Patron of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland’s Junior Orchestra, of Music in Secondary Schools Trust and of the Junior Conservatoire at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

In an interview she gave to The Herald Magazine, ahead of her appearances at the Edinburgh International Festival last year ,where she was selected as a resident artist, Benedetti gave her own definition of success.

“Success, I think, is clearly defining for yourself what you think is a challenge and difficult to achieve that you then can achieve,” she said.

Last year, a new painting of Nicola went on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.

READ MORE: Witches of Scotland campaigners make SWOTY shortlist

Calum Stevenson, from Bonnybridge, was commissioned to do it after winning the Sky Arts television competition, Portrait Artist of the Year.

Nicola recently added another string to her bow after being named as the next director of the Edinburgh International Festival.

She said: “I am proud to become the first Scot and first female to take on the role since the Festival began in 1947.”

Nicola joins environmental activist Maureen Potter, Witches of Scotland campaigners Claire Mitchell QC and Zoe Venditozzi, adventurer and athlete Karen Darke and education champion Saheema Rehman on the 2021 shortlist.

The winner will be announced on March 31.

Thousands of people have been voting in our Young Scotswoman of the Year contest. The four finalists are champion discus, shotput and hammer athlethe Meghan Porterfield, 16, from East Kilbride; 21-year-old heart screening campaigner Abby Lang, from Longforgan in Perthshire; environmental activist Tess Corcoran, 18, from Glenfarg in Perthshire; and fundraiser extraordinaireMariya Javed, 12, from Elderslie. Voting is now closed, and the winner will also be announced on March 31.

Glasgow Times Scotswoman of the Year has been running since 1963, Previous winners include anti-stalking campaigner Ann Moulds, dementia charity founder Sally Magnusson and Masks for Scotland driving force Professor Jill Belch.