Sophie Solomon (born 6 June 1978) is a British violinist, songwriter and composer who fuses many different musical influences into her music. She was Artistic Director of the Jewish Music Institute, SOAS (University of London) from 2012 to 2015 and is now Chief Marketing Officer at high-growth music technology start-up ROLI.

Early life

Solomon began playing the violin at the age of two. At four she met

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to t ...

and was taken to see the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. For the first five years she played totally by ear, learning to read music at the age of seven. Even though the National Children's Orchestra and Pro Corda heralded her as one of the most promising violinists of her generation, Solomon "was never completely satisfied by the classical world alone, I felt constrained by the fact that the music was written down and the strict parameters of the repertoire. I felt I had to step outside of that and find my own voice." She was one of ''Bell's Belles'' who campaigned for

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1997 to 2001. He is sometimes known as " ...

during his successful attempt to be elected MP for Tatton in the 1997 general election. She studied at

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to p ...

, and later at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

(

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

) graduating in 1999 with a First Class degree in Modern History and Russian. She also holds an MSc in Economic History from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

Career

During her time at Oxford, Solomon spent a year living in Russia, where she had a residency DJing

ragga jungle Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and ...

music at Kitai Gorod's Propaganda nightclub. Solomon developed a passion for the traditional musics of Eastern Europe, especially klezmer and gypsy styles, and travelled widely in the region, absorbing new sounds and influences along the way. This led to her becoming a founder member of Oi Va Voi, who were described as "one of the most exciting bands in Britain today" by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''. It was with this band that she rediscovered her love for the violin. Famed for their live appearances and Solomon's on-stage pyrotechnics, the band's debut album, ''Laughter Through Tears'', received rave reviews, was voted in the top ten albums of 2004 by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', and won them two nominations in BBC Radio 3's annual awards for world music and an Edison Album of the Year Award 2003. Solomon's collaboration with Josh "Socalled" Dolgin – ''Solomon & Socalled's HipHopKhasene'' – with special guests David Krakauer, Michael Alpert and

Frank London Frank London (born 1958 in New York) is an American klezmer trumpeter who also plays jazz and world music. Early life London was born to a Reform Jewish family and grew up in New York and Connecticut. He started playing the trumpet in fourt ...

, a traditional klezmer wedding hip-hop style, received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik Album of the Year award 2004. She became increasingly in demand, lending her violin playing to the likes of

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...

, KT Tunstall,

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul mu ...

, Killing Joke and

Theodore Bikel Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in films, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), ''Moulin Rouge'' (1952), ' ...

. Solomon teaches klezmer music all over the world, most recently at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

(University of London), the Royal Academy of Music and Weimar Conservatoire. She is on the artistic advisory committee of the Genius of the Violin festival, the only such event in the world devoted entirely to the instrument. In February 2006 she appeared alongside

Roby Lakatos Roby Lakatos (born 1965) is a violinist from Hungary who combines jazz, classical, and Hungarian Romani music Romani music (often referred to as gypsy or gipsy music, which is sometimes considered a derogatory term) is the music of the Roman ...

Nikolaj Znaider Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (born 5 July 1975 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish violinist and conductor. Biography Szeps-Znaider was born in Copenhagen to Polish-Jewish parents. His father had originally emigrated from Poland to Israel, and his mot ...

and

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player and composer whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year awards ...

in the Genius of the Violin concert at the

Barbican Hall The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhib ...

with the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

, performing special orchestrations of her own compositions. Martha Wainwright made an appearance as Sophie's special guest at this concert singing Lazarus. In May 2006 Solomon released her debut solo album, ''Poison Sweet Madeira'', on Decca Records – an eclectic mix of klezmer, folk and pop and featuring the vocal talents of

Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...

and KT Tunstall. Her regular touring band comprises Ian Watson (accordion), Daniel Glendining (guitar/vocals), Grant Windsor (piano), Ali Friend (bass) and Stevie Pilgrim (drums). She has appeared and worked with musicians as diverse as

The Klezmatics The Klezmatics are an American klezmer music group based in New York City, who have achieved fame singing in several languages, most notably mixing older Yiddish tunes with other types of more contemporary music of differing origins. They have ...

Gary Lucas Gary Lucas (born June 20, 1952) is an American guitarist/songwriter/composer who was a member of Captain Beefheart's band. He formed the band Gods and Monsters (band), Gods and Monsters in 1989. Lucas has released more than 50 albums to date a ...

, Bacon & Quarmby, Luke Toms, The Real Tuesday Weld, Nayekhovichi, Alan Bern &

Brave Old World Brave Old World is an American and German klezmer band. It formed in 1989. Members hail from the US and Germany. ''The Washington Post'' called Brave Old World "the revival's first supergroup. Every player is a virtuoso.” In 1992, the group ...

, Maurice El Medioni, the

, th'Legendary Shackshakers, the Israeli Sinfonietta,

Hazmat Modine Hazmat Modine is a musical group based in New York City and led by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Wade Schuman. Their music is rooted in blues and also touches on folk, jazz and World music. The most recent lineup of the band circa ...

, Avishai Cohen,

Yasmin Levy Yasmin Levy ( he, יסמין לוי; born December 23, 1975) is an Israeli singer-songwriter of Judeo-Spanish music. Biography Yasmin Levy was born on December 23, 1975, in Baka, Jerusalem. She is of Sephardic Jewish descent. Her parents were A ...

Ludovico Einaudi Ludovico Maria Enrico Einaudi OMRI (; born 23 November 1955) is an Italian pianist and composer. Trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan, Einaudi began his career as a classical composer, later incorporating other styles and genres such as ...

Marius de Vries Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English music producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award. Education Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedfor ...

, Kipper,

Temposhark Temposhark was an England, English electronic rock band, formed in London and Brighton by singer-songwriter Robert Diament and one-time music producer Luke Busby. Temposhark were best known for their songs ''Bye Bye Baby'', ''Joy'', ''It's Bet ...

Jon Thorne Jon Thorne (born 12 February 1967) is an English double bassist, producer and composer. Career Thorne is self-taught and started playing at the age of 23. He has studied and played jazz for a number of years following and considers Danny Thomps ...

, Smadj, Ben Parker (formerly of

Ben & Jason Ben & Jason were a singer-songwriter duo from London, England consisting of Ben Parker and Jason Hazeley. Formed in 1998, they released three albums on the Go! Beat/Universal labels: ''Hello'', ''Emoticons'' and ''Ten Songs About You''. When t ...

) and Besh o droM. In 2006, Solomon was Musical Arranger on Lindsay Posner's critically acclaimed production of '' Fiddler on the Roof'' starring

Henry Goodman Henry Goodman (born 23 April 1950) is a RADA trained British actor. He has appeared on television and radio, in film and in the theatre. Early life He attended the Central Foundation Boys' School and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, L ...

, which transferred to the Savoy Theatre on London's West End in May 2007. In early 2007 Solomon premiered Wiesenberg's ''Suite Concertante for Klezmer and Classical Violins'' with Dora Schwarzberg & the

Yehudi Menuhin School The Yehudi Menuhin School is a specialist music school in Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey, England, founded in 1963 by violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. The current director of music is the British classical pianist Ashley Wass. The school is on ...

Orchestra. In 2008 she was a featured musician for the premiere at London's

South Bank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

's composition Q4 based on

T S Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Bi ...

Four Quartets ''Four Quartets'' is a set of four poems written by T. S. Eliot that were published over a six-year period. The first poem, ''Burnt Norton'', was published with a collection of his early works (1936's ''Collected Poems 1909–1935''). After a f ...

, commissioned by the Rafael Bonachela Dance Company. She contributes regularly to ''

The Strad ''The Strad'' is a UK-based monthly classical music magazine about string instrumentsprincipally the violin, viola, cello and double bassfor amateur and professional musicians. Founded in 1889, the magazine provides information, photographs and ...

'' magazine. She is currently working on her second solo disc for Sony/ATV, produced by

, and composing music for various film projects. She composed the score for ''Vlast'' (Power), a film about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which has been screened at international film festivals, including Zagrebdox, where it won a Special Recognition Award, and as part of Al Jazeera's Witness strand. In 2009, Solomon was composer, arranger and musical director for ''Our Class'', a new play by Tadeusz Slobodzianek directed by Bijan Sheibani at the Royal National Theatre in London. In 2010, she was Composer for 'Off the Endz' by Bola Agbaje at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

in London and appeared as featured folk fiddler in

London Assurance ''London Assurance'' (originally titled ''Out of Town'') is a five-act comedy by Dion Boucicault. It was the second play that he wrote but his first to be produced. Its first production was by Charles Matthews and Madame Vestris's company and ...

at the Royal National Theatre directed by

Nicholas Hytner Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner (; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include '' Miss Saigon'', ''T ...

. In November 2011 she was appointed Artistic Director of the Jewish Music Institute, SOAS, effective from January 2012. As part of her work at Jewish Music Institute, Solomon commissioned composer

Jocelyn Pook Jocelyn Pook (, rhyming with "book"; born 14 February 1960) is an English composer and viola player. She is known for her scores for many films, including ''Eyes Wide Shut'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and '' The Wife''. Education Pook gradua ...

, together with dramaturg Emma Bernard and video artist Dragan Aleksic, to create ''Drawing Life'', a new multimedia work inspired by the poems and drawings of the child inmates of Terezin concentration camp. The work, funded by the Arts Council and winner of the PRS David Bedford Award for Music Education, features singers

Melanie Pappenheim Melanie Pappenheim (born 1959) is an English soprano and composer, notable for her vocal work with various British cross-disciplinary composers, with avant-garde theatre companies and on soundtracks (notably for several films and the 2005 reviva ...

and

Lorin Sklamberg Lorin Sklamberg is a vocalist, accordionist, pianist, guitarist and founding member of American Klezmer band The Klezmatics. He began performing Jewish music at age fifteen, and moved to New York in the early 1980s to incorporate klezmer into his ...

and received a preview performance in 2014 at Kings Place in London. Solomon is also Founder and Governor of Hackney New Primary School, a new Outstanding free school focused on music, which opened in Hackney in September 2015. In December 2014, the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'' named Solomon one of the 50 most powerful people working part-time in the UK.

Discography

*'' Digital Folklore'' (Voi Records, 2002) *'' Laughter Through Tears'' (Outcaste, 2003) *'' Solomon&Socalled's HipHopKhasene'' (Piranha, 2003) *'' Poison Sweet Madeira'' ( Decca Records, 2006) *'' Lazarus'' (single, Decca Records, 2006) *'' Stop the Parade'' (Sophie Solomon, 2016)

Contributions

*'Klezmer', Timeshift documentary, BBC4 2012 *Find the Torch, Burn the Plans –

Live at the Royal Albert Hall DVD *Special Guest with

at the Royal Albert Hall, May 2010 *'' Threads'' –

2010 (violin solos on songs ''Say I'm Sorry'' and ''Green Lights'')Temposhark-Home
/ref> *Solo violin and viola on Mrs Klein by

Nicholas Wright (playwright) Nicholas Verney Wright (born 1940 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a British dramatist. Biography Nicholas Wright was born in Cape Town, attended Rondebosch Boys' School and from the age of six was a child actor on radio and on the stage. He cam ...

at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...

, London 2009 *Special Guest with

at Island Records 50th Birthday Celebrations, Shepherd's Bush Empire 2009 *Solo violinist on '' Easy Virtue'' directed by

Stephan Elliott Stephan Elliott (born 27 August 1964) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. His best-known film internationally is ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' (1994). Career Elliott began his career as an assistant director ...

, new film version of Noël Coward play starring

Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake ( née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model. She has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bie ...

, Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas, with score by

*'' Fiddler on the Roof''-

Jerry Bock Jerrold Lewis Bock (November 23, 1928November 3, 2010) was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical ''Fiorello!'' and the Tony ...

Joseph Stein Joseph Stein (May 30, 1912 – October 24, 2010) was an American playwright best known for writing the books for such musicals as ''Fiddler on the Roof'' and '' Zorba''. Biography Born in New York City to Jewish parents, Charles and Emma ( ...

– Musical Arranger of critically acclaimed production @

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, & Savoy Theatre, West End, London, directed by Lindsay Posner and starring

as Tevye, 2006/7Sophie Taylor
/ref> *World Premiere of Menachem Wiesenberg's Suite Concertante for Klezmer and Classical Violins, commissioned for Sophie by the Jewish Music Institute, performed with Dora Schwarzberg & the

School Orchestra, London 2007 *"Fools with Money", Luke Toms, Island Records 2007, produced by Marius de Vries allmusic ((( Sophie Taylor > Credits )))/ref> *'' The Invisible Line'' –

, 2007/2008 *''Natureboy'' – Amanda Ghost, 2007 *

Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

Illuminated, a Spiel-commissioned project of animation & improvisation inspired by Chagall paintings, together with Max Reinhardt, Tamar Osborn, Ben Mandelson and Lemez Lovas, 2007 * Socalled Seder Live 2007 *''

Want Two ''Want Two'' is the fourth album by American-Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The album was released on November 16, 2004. Four of the tracks on this album were released in the summer of 2004 as the EP '' Waiting for a Want'' on t ...

'' –

DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...

2005, produced by Marius de Vries *'' Music From The Winery'' – David Krakauer, Tzadik 2005 *''

Redbird Redbird, Redbirds, Red Bird or Red Birds may refer to: Bird * Redbird, another name for the northern cardinal * Redbird, another name for the summer tanager * Red bird of paradise, a near threatened species Mythological * An East Asian variant ...

'' –

Heather Nova Heather Nova (born Heather Allison Frith, July 6, 1968) is a Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet. , she has released eleven full-length albums, six EPs and twelve singles. Biography Heather Nova was born Heather Allison Frith on Bermuda, a B ...

, V2 2005 *'' Another Run Around the Sun'' – Ben Taylor, Independiente 2005, produced by Bacon & Quarmby

Awards

*Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik Album of the Year 2004 – Solomon & Socalled's ''HipHopkhasene'' (Piranha) *Edison World Music Album of the Year 2004 – Oi Va Voi ''Laughter Through Tears'' (Outcaste) *Timewise Power Part Time 2014 as Sophie Jankovic

''Poison Sweet Madeira'' track list

# "Holy Devil" # "Burnt by the Sun" (with Richard Hawley) # "Poison Sweet Madeira" # "Lazarus" (with KT Tunstall) # "A Light That Never Dies" (with Ralph Fiennes) # "Hazy" # "I Can Only Ask Why" # "Meditation on Dvořák's Slavonic Fantasy" # "Pin Pricks And Gravy Stains"

Notes

External links

Sophie Solomon Official websiteSophie Solomon on Myspace.comSophie_Solomon_audio_interview_Temposhark
's_Podcast_series,_May_2006.html" ;"title="Temposhark">Sophie Solomon audio interview Temposhark
's Podcast series, May 2006">Temposhark">Sophie Solomon audio interview Temposhark
's Podcast series, May 2006br>Sophie Solomon interviewed at BBC Radio 3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Sophie British violinists 1978 births Living people Alumni of University College, Oxford Alumni of the London School of Economics English composers English Jews Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century violinists