about
Biography
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 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. They have recently been interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour and BBC Radio 3 In Tune.
Last May she gave her debut recital at the Wigmore Hall on baroque violin with harpsichordist Benedict Williams.
Recent highlights
...include receiving funding the Arts Council to tour Fran & Flora's debut album Unfurl; 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
Collaborations
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; composers Jocelyn Pook, David Schweitzer and Isabel Waller-Bridge; virtuoso musician Tcha Limberger; ecclectic Eastern European bands Dunajska Kapelye, She'koyekh and The London Klezmer Quartet; Bengali/London fusion band Khiyo; 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.
Teaching
Flora also teaches privately and has led 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.
Education
2018-2019
Royal Academy of Music - Professional Diploma in Historical Performance supported by the RC Wyse Bequest Award.
Professors: Rachel Podger, Nicolette Moonen, Margaret Faultless
Competitions and Prizes: Music Patrons’ Award 2019 competiton winner, Bickerdike Allen Prize and Roy Burcher Prize.
Highlights: Solo recital at the Wigmore Hall; leader of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis; top distinction in Final Recital.
2012-2014
Royal Academy of Music - Masters in Violin
Competitions and Prizes: John McAslan Prize, DipRAM
Professors: Maureen Smith, Elizabeth Wallfisch
Highlights: Member of the elite string ensemble (Royal Academy of Music Sainsbury Soloists); public masterclass with Maxim Vengerov and Ruth Watermann; top distinction in Final Recital
Other
She has also studied extensively with Peter Hanson and has taken masterclasses with David Dolan and Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
Passionate about Eastern European music and Klezmer, 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 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 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. They have recently been interviewed on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour and BBC Radio 3 In Tune.
Last May she gave her debut recital at the Wigmore Hall on baroque violin with harpsichordist Benedict Williams.
Recent highlights
...include receiving funding the Arts Council to tour Fran & Flora's debut album Unfurl; 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
Collaborations
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; composers Jocelyn Pook, David Schweitzer and Isabel Waller-Bridge; virtuoso musician Tcha Limberger; ecclectic Eastern European bands Dunajska Kapelye, She'koyekh and The London Klezmer Quartet; Bengali/London fusion band Khiyo; 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.
Teaching
Flora also teaches privately and has led 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.
Education
2018-2019
Royal Academy of Music - Professional Diploma in Historical Performance supported by the RC Wyse Bequest Award.
Professors: Rachel Podger, Nicolette Moonen, Margaret Faultless
Competitions and Prizes: Music Patrons’ Award 2019 competiton winner, Bickerdike Allen Prize and Roy Burcher Prize.
Highlights: Solo recital at the Wigmore Hall; leader of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis; top distinction in Final Recital.
2012-2014
Royal Academy of Music - Masters in Violin
Competitions and Prizes: John McAslan Prize, DipRAM
Professors: Maureen Smith, Elizabeth Wallfisch
Highlights: Member of the elite string ensemble (Royal Academy of Music Sainsbury Soloists); public masterclass with Maxim Vengerov and Ruth Watermann; top distinction in Final Recital
Other
She has also studied extensively with Peter Hanson and has taken masterclasses with David Dolan and Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
Passionate about Eastern European music and Klezmer, 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.
