Laura Newey (age 10)

Winner of scholarships at the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain (2007, 2008, 2009).
Laura has had her violins from Beecher Acoustics since her 1/8 size instrument. When she moved on to her ¼ size violin aged 8, she wrote “Thank you so much for the violin, and also the care you took to adjust the strings for me. It was a lot of fun seeing you again. The violin produces an amazing sound compared to all my previous violins. . . . . . As I have played the violin in and got used to the new spacings, it has of course sung better and better. Felicity Lipman, my teacher in London, also thinks it’s wonderful”.

Since then, Laura has moved on to a ½ size violin. Her current violin is known as “Percy”, and Laura writes “Percy is a really lovely violin. It was wonderful that Jonathan found him for me after my old violin broke. He has a beautiful singing tone, especially on the E and G strings - even high up on the E string he never sounds shrill, harsh or squeaky.”

Besides giving recitals with piano, and participating in chamber music, she  has been a member of the National Children’s Orchestra since she was 6. With her half-size violin, she recently performed the solo in the Ballet Suite from  Swan Lake at a public concert of the Under 13s National Children’s Orchestra.Earlier this year, during one of the national Suzuki concerts on the South Bank in London, she played a violin solo on her ½ size violin in the Purcell Room, and also played a piano solo in the Royal Festival Hall.

After these concerts, during a holiday in Italy she wrote: “ I had a wonderful time in Venice. I did some busking in a small square where it sounded stunning.” (see the photo of Laura busking in Venice, dressed in her carnival costume)

Laura has been awarded a scholarship at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, where she will study violin with Maciej Rakowski from September 2009.