Violin Conversations 2.22.25
Madeleine Mitchell, violin
Madeleine Mitchell, violin
Madeleine Mitchell, violin
Madeleine Mitchell, described by The Times, London as “one of the UK’s liveliest musical forces”, has performed as solo violinist and chamber musician in 50 countries in a wide repertoire, frequently broadcast for radio and TV, in festivals including the BBC Proms. 2024 saw her make a major tour of Japan and return to the USA as well as directing the Red Violin festival and releasing a quartet album with the London Chamber Ensemble, highly praised. Her album, Violin Conversations premiere recordings of works with living UK/US composers, several written for her, was reviewed in The Telegraph: ‘Is Madeleine Mitchell the future of classical music? An album of subtle charm’.
Madeleine Mitchell has performed concertos including BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Edwin Outwater in a concerto written for her and Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending live for BBC Radio 3, the Czech and Polish Radio Symphony orchestras, Wurttemberg and Munich Chamber, Kiev Radio/TV, St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic and other London orchestras.
As a recording artist with a wide discography, Madeleine has been nominated for Grammy and BBC Music Awards. Her popular albums include Violin Songs, Violin Muse and FiddleSticks in a unique collaboration with percussion. She’s also championed early 20th century music including Grace Williams Chamber Music (no.2 in the Classical Charts), and the solo violin piece by Michael, Lord Berkeley featured on his album Collaborations – one of the Sunday Times best albums of 2024.
In recital Madeleine Mitchell represented Britain in the Canberra International Music Festival, UKinNY at Lincoln Center and for the Queen’s Jubilee in Rome. She has given recitals at Sydney Opera House, Seoul Center for the Arts – part of a 3 month world tour, in Vienna, Moscow, London’s Southbank Centre as well as Singapore, Wigmore Hall and for BBC Radio 3. She returns to the Noontime Concerts San Francisco 14 October 2025.
A highly creative artist, she devised the eclectic Red Violin, the first international festival celebrating the violin across the arts, Founder Patron Lord Menuhin (inspired by Le Violon Rouge paintings). She won a Royal Philharmonic Society Enterprise Award to make a short film with the V&A Fabergé exhibition and the live quartet concert she curated with the London Chamber Ensemble which she founded: https://youtu.be/J_ChAdTj4xA
Madeleine Mitchell won the Tagore Gold Medal as a Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music, where she is now a Professor, followed by the Fulbright/ITT Fellowship to study in New York for a Master’s Degree at the Eastman and Juilliard schools.
Elektra Schmidt, piano
Madeleine Mitchell, violin
Madeleine Mitchell, violin
Award winning pianist Elektra Schmidt performs as solo artist and in chamber groups in the United States, France, Greece, and the United Kingdom. Notable recent engagements include performing as soloist with the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Golden Gate Symphony and the Bay Area’s Awesöme Orchestra.
As well as a flourishing performance career, Elektra curates for numerous festivals and art houses in Europe and San Francisco. She is the founder of Artist Migration, an organization dedicated to the integration and mobility of international artists.
After graduating summa cum laude from the National Conservatory of her native Greece, Elektra pursued her post-graduate studies in Paris at the Schola Cantorum and the Conservatoire Raoul Pugno under the guidance of distinguished pianist Lilia Boyadjieva.
She received her master’s degree with First Prize and Distinction (Medaille d’Or avec les félicitations du jury).
Elektra has collaborated with international festivals throughout the world including the San Francisco International Arts Festival, Flower Piano Festival, and Oxford Philomusica in the United Kingdom. Exciting plans for this coming season include BajaPianoFest in Baja California in May and performances in Paris, London and Rome in June.