about
I am a London based violinist performing on both 'modern' and 'historical' violin set ups, which means I play on both metal strings and gut strings, and with a whole range of bows from different eras. My stunning modern and baroque violins are made by North London based violin-maker extraordinaire, Tibor Szemmelveisz.
My main passions are for early music (in particular, music from the Baroque and Classical periods), traditional Jewish and Romanian music, folk music from across the British Isles, free improvisation, and more recently Swedish, Old Time and Maqam too. I often find myself hearing new sounds and wanting to learn how I can make them myself...it's an endless journey. I also love playing 20th century music, and of course discovering what music is being made today in response to life around us, across all genres.
I have been blessed with many incredible opportunities in my life, and have performed internationally as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, solo artist, folk fiddler, improviser and singer, as well as with my experimental folk duo, Fran & Flora, Highlights include performing solo at the Wigmore Hall and Kings Place, as well as live on Jools Holland, Tiny Desk, BBC Radio 4s Woman's Hour and BBC6 Music with Cerys Matthews. I have released albums including most recently Unfurl (Fran & Flora, Feb 2019), and Meditations and Laments (Gaia Duo, Dec 2019), and was interviewed on BBC Radio 3 This Classical Life with Jess Gillam in February 2020. While my background is in classical music, my musical horizons are broad - you're as likely to find me busking folk tunes at the market or jamming at a free improv session, as you are in a formal concert setting or orchestral pit. I have a keen interest in working with musicians from other cultures and with different art forms as a performer, improviser, recording artist and backing vocalist, and particularly love playing music for ceremonies, theatre and dancing.
I teach 1-1 violin lessons, grade 4+ and have also 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 competition winner, Bickerdike Allen Prize, Roy Burcher Prize, DipRAM
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
Professors: Maureen Smith, Elizabeth Wallfisch
Competitions and Prizes: John McAslan Prize, DipRAM
Masterclasses: Maxim Vengerov, Ruth Watermann
Highlights: Member of the elite string ensemble, Royal Academy of Music Sainsbury Soloists; collaboration with the Brodsky Quartet
Other
I have studied violin with Peter Hanson and have taken masterclasses with David Dolan in classical improvisation
Passionate about Eastern European music and Klezmer, I have sought out many Eastern European music masters and teachers of improvisation including Tcha Limberger, Alan Bern, Ross Daly, Marcel Ramba and Marin Bunea, and have attended world-leading Klezmer courses, Yiddish Summer Weimar (Cookie Segelstein) and KlezKanada (Jake Shulman-Ment)
I also have a BA in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics from King's College London (2008-2011)
what the press says...
"Curzon's violin flickers and burns on a Doina learnt at the feet of Hungarian Roma violinist István 'Kiscipás' Varga."
Clive Bell, The Wire 2019
"a particular treat...exquisite"
Drafted Magazine 2015
Drafted Magazine 2015
