Alison Stephens (1 March 1970 – 10 October 2010) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

classical

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

player and film musician.

Biography

Stephens was born in

Bickley Bickley is a district and a local government electoral ward in South East London, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located 10.4 miles (16.7 km) south east of Charing Cross, bordering Elmstead, London, Elmstead to the north, Chis ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and educated at

James Allen's Girls' School James Allen's Girls' School, abbreviated JAGS, is an independent day school situated in Dulwich, South London, England. It is the second oldest girls’ independent school in Great Britain - Godolphin School in Salisbury being the oldest, founde ...

and Haileybury and began playing the mandolin at the age of seven, inspired by her father, who had played the instrument during the Second World War. She was the first graduate in the instrument from

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

in London. She gave her first public performance of a concerto 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 exhibi ...

in 1987 and subsequently gave recitals all over the world. She played for opera and ballet companies and was a performer on the scores of films such as ''

The Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

'', ''

The Golden Compass ''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...

'', ''

Captain Corelli's Mandolin ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin'', released simultaneously in the United States as ''Corelli's Mandolin'', is a 1994 novel by the British writer Louis de Bernières, set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Italian and German occupatio ...

'' and ''

Fantastic Mr. Fox ''Fantastic Mr Fox'' is a children's literature, children's novel written by British author Roald Dahl. It was published in 1970, by Allen & Unwin, George Allen & Unwin in the UK and Alfred A. Knopf in the U.S., with illustrations by Donald Ch ...

''.

Death

Stephens was diagnosed with

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal ...

in 2008,Cambridge News
and was treated at

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campu ...

in Cambridge. After undergoing a second round of treatment in 2009 with a new form of radiation therapy,

tomotherapy Tomotherapy is a radiation therapy modality, in which the patient is scanned across a Radiation therapy#Intensity-modulated radiation therapy .28IMRT.29, modulated strip-beam, so that only one “slice” (Greek prefix “tomo-”) of the target ...

, she made a full recovery and spent much of the last two years of her life fundraising for cancer charities. In June 2010, the cancer returned and she died at the Arthur Rank Hospice in Cambridge on 10 October that year.

Discography

*''Souvenirs for Mandolin and Guitar'' (2009) with

Craig Ogden Craig Ogden is an Australian classical guitarist whose albums have topped the UK classical charts. He is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK. Ogden began playing guitar at the age of seven, and ...

(guitar) *''Calace Concertos Nos.1 and 2'' (2007) with Steven Devine (piano) *''Tapestry'' (2003) with Lauren Scott (harp) *''Con Espressione'' (2004) *''Mandolin Concerto in G'' (2001) *''Music from the novels of Louis de Bernières'' (1999) with Craig Ogden (guitar) *''Music for Mandolin'' (1991)

References

External links

* *
Obituary in ''The Guardian''
1970 births 2010 deaths People from St Neots People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College Alumni of Trinity College of Music Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from cervical cancer People educated at James Allen's Girls' School Musicians from Cambridgeshire British classical mandolinists People from Bickley 20th-century classical musicians 21st-century classical musicians 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians 20th-century English women musicians 21st-century English women musicians {{UK-music-bio-stub