Kirsty Orton

Violin

Kirsty Orten - ViolinKirsty grew up in Edinburgh and began learning the violin aged 9. Surrounded by a musical family, her progress and enthusiasm quickly grew under the tutelage of Mary Williamson at the The Waddell School of music, playing in local orchestras and competing in music festivals. At 13 she was the youngest member of Edinburgh Youth Orchestra and played her first concerto aged 15 with Edinburgh Schools Training Orchestra.

A year at St Mary’s Music School with Claire Docherty assured Kirsty a place at The Royal College of Music, studying modern violin with Dona Lee Croft and baroque violin with Micaela Comberti and Adrian Butterfield. This was followed by a post graduate year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland studying with Peter Lissauer.

Some highlights from her studies include masterlclasses with Andrew Manze, The Nash Ensemble and the Chilingirian Quartet.  Kirsty performed at St James’ Palace, The St Magnus Festival and Mendelssohn on Mull and won a place on the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s Apprenticeship Scheme as well as being awarded a John McInulty Prize for orchestral playing. A personal musical highlight was performing with the Heritage Orchestra for DJ Giles Peterson’s set at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Since completing her studies Kirsty has performed both Mendelssohn and Prokofiev violin concertos with The New Edinburgh Orchestra, performed with Kanye West, recorded for Isobel Campbell and both the Grid Iron and Lyceum Theatre Companies, and become an extra violinist with The Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (including three international tours).

Now based in Glasgow, Kirsty plays regularly with Capella as a charismatic and skilled first violinist, and also teaches upper strings with the incredible Sistema Scotland Big Noise project in Govanhill.

<< Back to all our players