Tasmin Little (born 13 May 1965) is an English classical

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 regular ...

ist. She is a

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

soloist and also performs as a

recital A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety an ...

ist and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

ian. She has released numerous albums, winning the Critics Award at the

Classic Brit Awards The Classic BRIT Awards (previously Classical BRIT Awards) are an annual awards ceremony held in the United Kingdom covering aspects of classical and crossover music, and are the equivalent of popular music's Brit Awards. The awards are organi ...

in 2011 for her recording of Elgar's Violin Concerto.

Early life and education

Little was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and is the daughter of Bradford-born actor George Little, best known for his role in ''

Emmerdale Farm ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

''. She first learned to read music at age six while learning to play a

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

that her mother had given her. She grew up in northwest London, attending the

Yehudi Menuhin School The Yehudi Menuhin School is a Specialist school, 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. ...

on a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

as a weekly boarder between the ages of 8 and 18; among her fellow pupils was violinist

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and background Kenn ...

. In 1982 she was a finalist in the string section of ''

BBC Young Musician of the Year BBC Young Musician is a televised national music competition broadcast wikt:biennially, biennially on BBC Television and BBC Radio 3. Originally BBC Young Musician of the Year, its name was changed in 2010. The competition, a former member of t ...

''. After leaving school she went on to the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

, where she obtained a Performance Diploma and won the

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the school's annual music competition in 1986. She is known for her presence at the Menuhin Competition for Young Violinists, both as a competitor in its early days and as a member of the competition jury in recent years. She was the third prize winner in the Senior Division at the inaugural 1983 competition in Folkestone, after which she earned second prize at the following competition in 1985.

Career

Little's first professional performance as a soloist was in 1988 with

The Hallé The Hallé is an English symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It supports a choir, youth choir, youth training choir, children's choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasiona ...

. She made her first appearance at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in 1990, and has appeared regularly since. Over the course of her career Little has performed with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

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 orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

, the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

and other major orchestras, and has released over 20 albums. Tasmin Little Music Centre University of Bradford

Little has been an exponent of the works of composer

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

throughout her career, and was the artistic director of "Delius Inspired", an eight-day festival held in Bradford in July 2006 celebrating his work which was broadcast on

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. She has also made a documentary on Delius for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

. In 2008 Little released a three-track recording, ''The Naked Violin'', as a free download from her website in a move aimed at making classical music more accessible. The recording featured Bach's Partita No. 3 in E major, Eugène Ysaÿe's Sonata No.3 in D minor, and "Luslawice" by Paul Patterson, all performed unaccompanied. The project won the 2008 ''

Gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

''/ Classic FM Award for Audience Innovation, and was featured in an episode of ''

The South Bank Show ''The South Bank Show'' is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of the series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts. Conceived, written, ...

''. Little received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

in 1996, and the University's music school, the Tasmin Little Music Centre, is named after her. In 2009 she received a British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Gold Badge Award, and in 2011 her album ''Elgar: Violin Concerto'' won the Critics Award at the

. She was appointed

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 o ...

(OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to music. On 24 January 2020, Little announced her retirement from the concert platform for the summer of 2020, which was deferred to the end of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

References

External links

*
Royal Academy of Music biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Tasmin 1965 births Living people Musicians from London Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Academics of the Royal Academy of Music English classical violinists Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Yehudi Menuhin School Women classical violinists 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century English musicians 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century English musicians 20th-century English women musicians 21st-century English women musicians Women music educators