Fran & Flora's debut album 'UNFURL' available to pre-order, and single 'Romanian Fantasies' avaialble to buy!
flora curzon
Flora Curzon is a London based violinist performing on both 'modern' and 'historical' violin set ups. She has performed internationally as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, solo artist, folk fiddler, improviser and singer, as well as with her own duo, Fran & Flora. Whilst her background is in classical music, her musical horizons are broad: she is well versed in many styles of folk music and improvisation and has a keen interest in working with musicians from other cultures and with different art forms as a performer, improviser/composer, recording artist and backing vocalist.
Her unique combination of interests and skills have sparked a fast growing and eclectic career: Her experimental folk duo, Fran & Flora, described as ‘a string duo bound for glory’ by Max Reinhardt of BBC Radio 3, released their debut album Unfurl in February to widespread critical acclaim and were recently interviewed for Woman’s Hour and In Tune.
She has collaborated with artists and ensembles including folk singer Sam Lee; tabla player Talvin Singh; historical performance ensembles Ex Cathedra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Bach Players and Music for Awhile; The Multi-Story Orchestra; composer Jocelyn Pook; virtuoso musician Tcha Limberger; ecclectic Eastern European bands Dunajska Kapelye, She'koyekh and The London Klezmer Quartet; Bengali/London fusion band Khiyo; stunning pop band Hejira; artist Meilyr Jones; actor/musician/researcher Vivi Lachs and her band Katsha'nes; storyteller Chris Salisbury; Baroque / folk group, The Twisted Twenty; chamber ensembles including The London Chamber Collective and The Keats Quartet; contemporary music groups Phaedra Ensemble, London Sinfonietta and the Brodsky Quartet; theatre companies including Deafinitely Theatre, Chai for All and MishMash Productions; and has played for dancing with Bricolage and the Ceilidh Liberation Front.
Having graduated from the Royal Academy of Music on ‘modern’ violin in 2014 with top distinction, Flora returned to the Academy in 2018-2019 to do a one-year intensive course in historical performance, supported by the RC Wyse Bequest Award. There she won the Music Patrons’ Award 2019, made her debut recital at the Wigmore Hall, lead John Blow’s Venus and Adonis and received a top distinction in her Final Recital. She is the recipient of the the Bickerdike Allen and the Roy Burcher Prizes 2019.
Her unique combination of interests and skills have sparked a fast growing and eclectic career: Her experimental folk duo, Fran & Flora, described as ‘a string duo bound for glory’ by Max Reinhardt of BBC Radio 3, released their debut album Unfurl in February to widespread critical acclaim and were recently interviewed for Woman’s Hour and In Tune.
She has collaborated with artists and ensembles including folk singer Sam Lee; tabla player Talvin Singh; historical performance ensembles Ex Cathedra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Bach Players and Music for Awhile; The Multi-Story Orchestra; composer Jocelyn Pook; virtuoso musician Tcha Limberger; ecclectic Eastern European bands Dunajska Kapelye, She'koyekh and The London Klezmer Quartet; Bengali/London fusion band Khiyo; stunning pop band Hejira; artist Meilyr Jones; actor/musician/researcher Vivi Lachs and her band Katsha'nes; storyteller Chris Salisbury; Baroque / folk group, The Twisted Twenty; chamber ensembles including The London Chamber Collective and The Keats Quartet; contemporary music groups Phaedra Ensemble, London Sinfonietta and the Brodsky Quartet; theatre companies including Deafinitely Theatre, Chai for All and MishMash Productions; and has played for dancing with Bricolage and the Ceilidh Liberation Front.
Having graduated from the Royal Academy of Music on ‘modern’ violin in 2014 with top distinction, Flora returned to the Academy in 2018-2019 to do a one-year intensive course in historical performance, supported by the RC Wyse Bequest Award. There she won the Music Patrons’ Award 2019, made her debut recital at the Wigmore Hall, lead John Blow’s Venus and Adonis and received a top distinction in her Final Recital. She is the recipient of the the Bickerdike Allen and the Roy Burcher Prizes 2019.
Teaching
Flora also teaches privately and has lead workshops in ensemble playing and folk music for Jackdaws Music Trust, Crean Folk Camp, Theatre in the Fields, Centre for Youth Music (CYM), Klezfest and Klezmer South.
Recent highlights
...include receiving funding from Help Musicians UK to attend Yiddish Summer Weimar and KlezKanada this summer; winning the Royal Academy of Music Patrons Award 2019 with Benedict Williams joint with Sally Palmer; being invited to be this year's Artist in Residence at Ryedale Festival; Fran & Flora being selected to play on the BBC Introducing stage at Latitude; performing with The Bach Players; recording and performing William Carslake's The Singing Glacier; singing on Jools Holland with Sam Lee; playing in Jocelyn Pook's Drawing Life, and giving a debut King's Place performance of Raag Pilu for JMIs 'Alternative Menuhin' with Sitar player, Sheema Mukherjee. Recordings of a recent concert with the Keats Quartet and Jonathan Sage (clarinet) in Norwich can be found here
Education
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music where she was a member of the elite string ensemble (Royal Academy of Music Sainsbury Soloists) and winner of the John McAslan for general achievement, Flora studied modern violin with Maureen Smith and baroque violin with Elizabeth Wallfisch. She gained a top distinction and was awarded the DipRAM for an outstanding final recital in the summer of 2014. She has also studied extensively with Peter Hanson and has taken masterclasses with Maxim Vengerov, Ruth Watermann, David Dolan and Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
Flora has also studied with many Eastern European music masters and teachers of improvisation including Tcha Limberger, Alan Bern, Ross Daly, Marcel Ramba and Marin Bunea.
She has a degree in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics from King's College London.
Flora also teaches privately and has lead workshops in ensemble playing and folk music for Jackdaws Music Trust, Crean Folk Camp, Theatre in the Fields, Centre for Youth Music (CYM), Klezfest and Klezmer South.
Recent highlights
...include receiving funding from Help Musicians UK to attend Yiddish Summer Weimar and KlezKanada this summer; winning the Royal Academy of Music Patrons Award 2019 with Benedict Williams joint with Sally Palmer; being invited to be this year's Artist in Residence at Ryedale Festival; Fran & Flora being selected to play on the BBC Introducing stage at Latitude; performing with The Bach Players; recording and performing William Carslake's The Singing Glacier; singing on Jools Holland with Sam Lee; playing in Jocelyn Pook's Drawing Life, and giving a debut King's Place performance of Raag Pilu for JMIs 'Alternative Menuhin' with Sitar player, Sheema Mukherjee. Recordings of a recent concert with the Keats Quartet and Jonathan Sage (clarinet) in Norwich can be found here
Education
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music where she was a member of the elite string ensemble (Royal Academy of Music Sainsbury Soloists) and winner of the John McAslan for general achievement, Flora studied modern violin with Maureen Smith and baroque violin with Elizabeth Wallfisch. She gained a top distinction and was awarded the DipRAM for an outstanding final recital in the summer of 2014. She has also studied extensively with Peter Hanson and has taken masterclasses with Maxim Vengerov, Ruth Watermann, David Dolan and Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
Flora has also studied with many Eastern European music masters and teachers of improvisation including Tcha Limberger, Alan Bern, Ross Daly, Marcel Ramba and Marin Bunea.
She has a degree in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics from King's College London.
"...a particular treat...exquisite..."
Drafted Magazine, April 2015
