Vanessa Mae

Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, known as Vanessa-Mae (Chinese: 陈美, pinyin: Chén měi) (Singapore, October 27, 1978) is a classically trained violinist who has become famous for her recordings in which she mixes classical pieces with pop, jazz, techno and other modern rhythms. The recording of hers that brought her international fame was The Violin Player (1994).

Biography

Early years

Daughter of the Chinese lawyer and classical pianist Pamela Soei Luang Tan and the Thai hotel businessman Vorapong Vanakorn, she was baptized Chen Mei Vanakorn.

Beginnings

Her first approach to music, beyond hearing her mother's piano at home, took place in a kindergarten in Singapore, where she was encouraged to play with a piano. After her parents divorced, Vanessa moved to London when she was four years old and moved in with her mother and her new husband in the Kensington neighborhood of West London.

Once settled in the Kensington mansion, Graham Nicholson formalized Vanessa's adoption and gave her his surname, which Vanessa would use second, after her native Vanakorn. Until the age of five, Vanessa Mae had only had contact with the piano, but her stepfather influenced the incorporation of the violin into the repertoire of activities of little Vanessa who also attended classical dance classes. Nicholson, in addition to being a lawyer, was a violinist and was excited to have his daughter as his companion. Thus, Vanessa Mae had her first introduction to the violin at the age of five, at school, although still only as a game.

He studied at Francis Holland Primary School and accompanied his parents to concerts and operas. To perfect her technique, her parents sent her to the China Central Conservatory in Beijing, where she took violin lessons with a prestigious local teacher, Mr. Lin Yao Ji. In addition, she began studying the Mandarin language and prepared practical work for her London school. At the age of ten, her parents bought her an expensive violin made by the Italian luthier Giuseppe Guadagnini in 1761.

On the other hand, she had her first concert as a soloist accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Her musical precocity and natural talent were well seen by the director of the Royal College of Music, who admitted her as a regular student at only eleven years old to take advanced classes with Professor Félix Andrievsky. In 1991, at the age of 12, she began an international tour with the London Mozart Players group, the "Mozart Bicentennial Tour". Additionally, she made three classical recordings for the Trittico label: 'Violin', 'Kids Classics' and 'Kids Classics'. and "Tchaikovsky & Beethoven violin Concertos".

His mother had already taken charge of his representation, acting as manager (a position she would hold until 1999), producer, artistic advisor and accompanying pianist. In 1992, at the age of fourteen, she completed her studies at the Royal College of Music and two years later, at just 16 years old, she signed a contract with EMI Music to record both classical and pop music.

Professionalism

Thus, in 1995, armed with a new electric violin from the American firm Zeta, Vanessa recorded her first pop album, titled "The Violin Player". This album showed her with a style that she herself baptized as "techno-acoustic fusion".

For the other songs on the album, the creativity of Mike Batt, an expert in instrumental pop music, was used. The almost 3 million albums sold brought him significant profits and requests for live performances from all over the world. The first commercial video released for sale was also filmed in 1995, under the title Live at the Royal Albert Hall. She also organized a world tour that took her to give dozens of concerts throughout Europe and Asia, "The Red Hot Violin Player World Tour". She even crossed the Atlantic and landed in the United States, where she gave some concerts and had the honor of being the first foreign artist invited to perform The Star-Spangled Banner, the national anthem of the United States of America. America, exciting the Chicago public.

Also in 1995 came the first international recognitions in the form of awards.

Growth

On the album The alternative Record (intermediate between a simple and an LD, with a duration of 25 minutes), he adapted the song Classical Gas to the rhythm of Jamaican reggae and explored new sounds in previously released works. Despite this fusion, Vanessa Mae did not abandon her classical repertoire. The 1996 tour led to another commercial video recorded during her second visit to Germany, in September 1996, titled Live at the Berlin Philharmonie. Also in 1996, Vanessa began her musical relationship with the world's most luxurious automobiles.

The next significant event was the release of the album The Classical Album #1, which marked their return to the classical repertoire. This release came to fulfill the promise he had made to his fans, that he would maintain his classical and pop careers in parallel. In 1997, he brought a new ECHO Award, this time called 'Classics without Borders'. At that time, in the company of composer Andy Hill, he was commissioned to compose a work to set music to the celebration of the reunification of China and Hong Kong. The resulting work was a magnificent piece titled Happy Valley.

On September 17, 1998 he played in Argentina with the Backstreet Boys the song I'll Never Break Your Heart She recorded an album with Chinese music in the form of three works: a Chinese concerto, an arrangement of Turandot, Puccini's opera and Happy Valley. The album was titled China Girl. She came to the United States for a concert on Madison Avenue in New York. Also that year, Vanessa collaborated on other artists' albums, as a guest on the first track The Velvet Rope, from Janet Jackson's album of the same name.

Another significant event that year was the release of the pop album "Storm" and from this came a new world tour, the Storm on World Tour with which he performed multiple concerts in Europe, Asia and America. A couple of songs from previous albums were included: Donna Summer and Embrasse Moi were the songs in which Vanessa provided her voice. She also had a performance in a short silent film titled The violin fantasy, alongside Vasko Vassilev, she also had her first recital broadcast live and her debut as a model.

The Original Four Seasons and Devil Trill Sonata – The Classical Album #3, The Italian Album appears in their catalog of classical albums. She also gave a mini recital at Parque de la Costa, in Argentina, where she also attended as a guest the programs of Susana Giménez and Georgina Barbarossa. Another important event was the invitation that director and arranger George Martin (former producer of The Beatles) made to him to collaborate on a song.

Already in 2000 he composed the piece titled The Power of C. On May 6, Vanessa played at the Royal Albert Hall when she performed her particular version of Storm alongside Vasko Vassilev and another violinist, on the occasion of the opening of the 'Classical Brit Awards' ceremony. 3. 4;. This participation in the presentation of the prestigious award was going to be the first of several, and today, Classical Brit Awards and Vanessa-Mae are almost synonymous.

New image

Mrs. Pamela Nicholson separated from her daughter in 2000. This occurred just one day before Vanessa's 21st birthday. Initially the separation would be strictly work-related, but Ms. Nicholson was not willing to relate to her daughter in any way other than business. Barely a month later, due to disagreements between her and her manager Mel Bush, apparently due to his connection with the brand new female bond string quartet, it was a good time to also end that relationship that had lasted for seven years. Thus, not without lawsuits from both parties, Mel Bush withdrew from Vanessa-Mae's career forever.

In addition, she separated forever from Gay-Yee Westerhoff, who was one of the cellists who played in the artist's choirs, who left this band to form her own quartet. After trying her luck with another manager, and battling her own doubts, Vanessa decided that she was mature enough to do without a manager. So she gathered her best collaborators and founded her own company which she called 'Fretless'.

Finally, in May 2001, the release of the album “Subject to Change” brought a new image of the artist, strictly contemporary rhythms, with some ethnic airs and a lot of synthesizer, in addition to a new and effective attempt to enter the world of song. Three songs carry her voice; one in English, another in French and a last one in Spanish. In addition, he renewed the creative team by incorporating composer and producer Youth (who had already collaborated on the arrangements of "Power of C" and "Devil's Trill") and added its violin squad the stylized and transparent "Clear" Made of acrylic by Ted Brewer.

This album gave rise to a tour throughout Europe, called "Tour of Change". Vanessa made time to record a single with DJ Sakin & Friends (the same group with whom she had collaborated with the song & # 34; Reminiscing & # 34; for & # 34; Walk on Fire & # 34;, in 1999).

Vanessa received a new award this year. MTV Asia decided to award her as 'Best Crossover Artist of the Year', at a ceremony held in Hong Kong. 2002 begins in the United States and there, on March 7, the Paralympic Games officially opened where Vanessa musicalized the ceremony, performing "Storm". The recitals in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro received only a lukewarm reception from the public and the media, more interested in other musical genres.

In early 2003, it appeared on Prince's album, "Expectation". This included four songs in which Vanessa collaborated and collaborated with the Dutch Candy Dulfer among others. This is an experimental jazz album that Prince published through his website.

Also in 2003 she participated in the Classical Brit Awards, being chosen to present the statuette corresponding to the category 'best-selling classical artist of the year'. Between 2003 and the entire first half of 2004, Vanessa endured harassment from a 50-year-old insane doctor who persistently hung around her house, becoming a real risk for the artist. The police managed to arrest him one day when the deranged man was carrying a stack of letters for her and a dagger.

In 2004, he retired from EMI and joined Sony. In September she released her album 'Choreography', performing works composed (with the exception of one) exclusively for her by renowned European and Asian authors such as Tolga Kashif, Vangelis, Walter Taieb, Jon Cohen, Bill Whelan and A.R. Rahman.

Prizes and distinctions

Some of the awards that Vanessa has obtained throughout her career as a violinist are:

• Porin Award to the Best Foreign Classical Music album
• ECHO Award, "Classics Without Borders" 1997
• Bambi Award to the "Classic Artist of the Year" (1995)
• ECHO Award International, in the category "Bestseller of the Year 1995"
• MTV Asia "Best Crossover Artist of the Year"
• “Guinness World Records” to youngest soloist in recording Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concerts
• World Music Award for "The World's Best Seller Classic Artist" (1997)
• Silver Clef Award to its "excellent achievements in the world of pop music" (1997)

Nominations

• Classic Brit Awards to "Album of the Year" (2005) by "Choreography"
• Brit Awards for "British Best Performer Women" (1996)
• Classic Brit Awards for "Best Young Artist or British Classical Music Group" (2000)
• Porin Award to "Best Video Extranjero" (Storm)

Discography

Albums

• Violin (1990)
• Kids' Classics (1991)
• Tchaikovsky " Beethoven Violin Concertos (Vanessa Mae) (1991/1992)
• The Violin Player (1995)
• The Alternative Record from Vanessa-Mae (1996)
• The Classical Album 1 (1996)
• China Girl: The Classical Album 2 (1997)
• Storm (1997)
• The Original Four Seasons and the Devil's Trill Sonata: The Classical Album 3 (1999)
• The Classical Collection: Part 1 (2000)
• Subject to Change (2001)
• The Best of Vanessa-Mae (2002)
• Xpectation (Jazz collaborating with Prince) (2003)
• The Ultimate (2003)
• Choreography (2004)

Special editions

• The Violin Player: Japanese Release (1995)
• The Classical Album 1: Silver Limited Edition (1997)
• Storm: Asian Special Edition (1997)
• The Original Four Seasons and the Devil's Trill Sonata: Asian Special Edition (1999)
• Subject to Change: Asian Special Edition (2001)
• The Ultimate: Dutch Limited Edition (2004)

Singles

• "Toccata" (1995)
• "Toccata & Fugue - The Mixes" (1995)
• "Red Hot" (1995)
• "Classical Gas" (1995)
• "I'm a-Doun for Lack O' Johnnie" (1996)
• "Bach Street Prelude" (1996)
• "Storm" (1997)
• "Happy Valley" (1997)
• "I Feel Love Part 1" (1997)
• "I Feel Love Part 2" (1997)
• "The Devil's Trill" (1998)
• "Destiny" (2001)
• "White Bird" (2001)

Videography

• The Violin Fantasy (1998)
• Arabian Nights (2000)
• Destiny (2000)
• The Red Hot Tour: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (1995)
• Storm On World Tour (1998)