Gemma Dickinson

Gemma was born in 1989 in London and from an early age she displayed remarkable gifts for music and the arts. She started learning the violin at the age of 6 at Orley Farm Primary School. At the time that Gemma was preparing for her Grade 6 ABRSM exam, her mother took her to see the Classical Brit Awards for a birthday present, where she saw Nigel Kennedy perform ‘Summer’ from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. After seeing this performance, Gemma promised herself she would be able to play like that one day and from then on her passion for music blossomed.   

When Gemma turned 15, she was accepted into Harrow Young Musicians where she lead the Philharmonic Orchestra for two years. With this orchestra she toured every summer to perform at venues in Venice, Barcelona, Nice and Cannes, with repertoire ranging from Barber’s Adagio for Strings and J.S.Bach’s 4^th Brandenburg Concerto in San Marco’s Church, Venice and J.S.Bach’s Concerto for two violins BWV 1043, the Adagietto from Mahler’s 5^th Symphony and Rimsky Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival in Eglise Anglican, Nice. 

Gemma studied at Watford Grammar School for Girls and took A Levels in Music, Fine Art and Technology. At time time she was studying the violin with Shamil Rashidov, and after gaining a high distinction for her Grade 8, Gemma decided to audition for music college.  

Gemma was accepted to the prestigious Trinity College of Music in Spring 2008 and is currently in her first year, studying with Gillian Findlay. Gemma recently formed a string quartet named ‘172’ who are now intensely working towards future concerts.  She is due to play the first movement from Wieniawski’s 2nd Violin Concerto at the end of February 2009 at TCM. 

Meet more players