Vanessa White

Violin

German-born violinist Vanessa grew up into a multicultural and musical family. Her mother is a Canadian pianist and her father a British violinist.

Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Music degree with honours from the Royal Northern College of Music where she studied with Czech violinist Pavel Fischer. Prior to her studies at the RNCM, Vanessa was taught by her father Christopher White whilst a music scholar at Oakham School and later at Loughborough High School. Vanessa has received tuition from violinists such as Levon Chilingirian, Yair Kless, Mauricio Fuks, Sebastian Hamann and Stephan Picard. She has been a prize winner of competitions including the North International Music Competition. As a soloist she has performed concerto works with orchestra playing works such as Dvorak’s Romance, Saint-Saëns’ Rondo Capriccioso and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. 

A dedicated chamber musician, Vanessa has had the opportunity to work with some of the most distinguished chamber musicians. She co-founded the Alegría Piano Trio in 2015 with Imy Luc and Lizzie Elliott. The trio have received coaching from the Gaspard Trio, the Sitkovetsky Trio, the Elias Quartet, Jeremy Young and Petr Prause and were finalists of the RNCM Hirsch prize. She has also performed the Mendelssohn Octet with the Elias Quartet. Vanessa has also performed lots of chamber music repertoire with members of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, the Maastricht Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. In particular, she enjoys performing violin duets with her father! Vanessa has been an intern of the English Camerata where she’s played, coached and received guidance from musicians such as Elizabeth Altman, Ofer Falk and Pal Banda. 

As an orchestral player, Vanessa was a member of the National Youth String Orchestra which saw her performing in venues such as The Sage Gateshead and Kings Place, London. She was also the leader of Oakham School and Loughborough Schools Foundation Orchestras. At the RNCM, Vanessa performed with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra, Opera Orchestra, Session Orchestra and Concert Orchestra. One particular highlight was playing Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring with the Symphony Orchestra. In August 2021, Vanessa will be playing in the Berlin Opera Academy Orchestra where she has been awarded the Lily Niblock Memorial Scholarship. 

Vanessa is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of musicians and enjoys a busy teaching career. Currently, Vanessa is working as a graduate music assistant at Rugby School where she has the opportunity to coach string chamber ensembles, give extra violin coaching/lessons and help out with string ensembles for children between the ages of 6-18 years. Vanessa also has a lot of experience teaching adults at both a beginner and advanced level. 

Vanessa is currently the joint Artistic Director and co-founder of Festival Fresco, founded in 2019 with composer Natasha Sofla in Manchester. The festival has recently launched its own YouTube channel which includes vlog-style content about the joys of performing chamber music. She is also the Artistic Associate of the Great Bowden Music Fest which was founded by her father in 2014. 

In September 2021, Vanessa is looking forward to beginning her Master’s degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama studying with professor Ofer Falk.