Iona Brown, OBE, (7 January 19415 June 2004) was a British

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist and conductor.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

and was educated at Cranborne Chase School,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. Her parents, Antony and Fiona, were both musicians. Her brother Timothy has been principal horn of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, her other brother Ian is a pianist and her sister Sally plays viola in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Career

From 1963 to 1966, Brown played violin in the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, ...

. In 1964, she joined the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, working her way up through the ranks to become leader, solo violinist and director in 1974. She formally left the Academy in 1980, but continued to work with them for the rest of her life. In 1981, she was appointed artistic director of the

Norwegian Chamber Orchestra Det Norske Kammerorkester or The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra (established in 1977) is a chamber orchestra based in Oslo. Biography The orchestra was founded by the violinist Bjarne Fiskum who got the idea for a summer course for young string tal ...

. King

Olav V of Norway Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Nor ...

later awarded her the accolade Knight of First Class Order of Merit for her success with the NCO. She directed the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra from 1987 to 1992. She was dismissed as conductor because of an inability to commit to more than six weeks per season with the orchestra due to her other posts, a decision she protested. Brown ultimately returned as the orchestra's principal conductor from 1995 to 1997 following a change in the orchestra's leadership. From 1985 to 1989, she was guest director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. As her health declined and her arthritis progressed, she shifted her focus from the violin to conducting, ending her violin career in 1998. In her last years, she was chief conductor of the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra of Denmark. From 1968 to 2004, Brown's principal residence was in the Wiltshire village of

Bowerchalke Bowerchalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Salisbury. It is in the south of the county, about from the boundary with Dorset and from that with Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Mead En ...

. When she took part in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

programme '' Kaleidoscope'', explaining how hard it was to play her signature piece '' The Lark Ascending'' by

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, she said that the singing of

lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark oc ...

s she heard during long walks on nearby Marleycombe Down influenced the way she played it.

Honours

She was made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1986, and in June 2003 was made an honorary Doctor of the University by the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

Death

She died of cancer in 2004 at age 63 in

. She was married twice, and was survived by her second husband, Bjorn Arnils.

Partial discography

As solo violinist

*''Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; The Lark Ascending; Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus'', Ralph Vaughan Williams. Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, cond. (1972 recording. Issued on Decca; reissued on CD as Argo 414 595-2 and Philips 426 005-2). * ''Violin Concerto No.2'', Bela Bartok.

;

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principa ...

, cond. (1980 recording. Issued on Argo ZRG 936, 1982). * ''Sonatas for Violin and Continuo Op 1'', George Frederic Handel. Denis Vigay, cello;

Nicholas Kraemer Nicholas Kraemer (born 7 March 1945, in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a British harpsichordist and conductor. Career Kraemer began his career as a harpsichordist. From playing continuo (on a harpsichord) at the back of an orchestra he proceeded to ...

, harpsichord. (1982 recording. Issued on Philips 412 603, 1982).

As director and violinist

*''La Cetra, Op. 9'', Antonio Vivaldi. Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. (1978 recording. 3-LP set, Argo D99D3) *''The Four Seasons'', Antonio Vivaldi. Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. (1979 recording. Philips 9500 7 17) *''12 Concerti Grossi Op. 6'', George Frideric Handel. Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. (1983 digital recording. 3-LP set, Philips 6769 083)

As director

*''Cello Concerto in C Major (H. VIIb1); Cello Concerto in D Major, Op.101 (H. VIIb2)'', Joseph Haydn. Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Mstislav Rostropovich, cello. (1976 recording. EMI 66 150 4) *''Organ Concerto / Concert Champêtre'', Francis Poulenc. Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; George Malcolm, organ / harpsichord. (1979 recording. Decca 448 270-2DF2)

References

External links

Los Angeles Times coverage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Iona British classical violinists English conductors (music) Women conductors (music) People from Salisbury 1941 births 2004 deaths Officers of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from cancer in England Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music People educated at Salisbury Cathedral School 20th-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British conductors (music) 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century English musicians Women classical violinists 20th-century English women musicians 21st-century English women musicians