Esther Abrami & Rose McLachlan

We are delighted to be able to present a superb evening of music with rising stars Esther Abrami and Rose McLachlan. Esther and Rose first met whilst studying at Chetham's School of Music and continue to perform together when they can around their busy musical careers. Esther is now signed to Sony Classical and has a packed schedule with performances all over the world as well as a very active online presence with 100s of thousands of followers on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Rose (a few years younger than Esther) is continuing her musical studies at the RNCM as well as frequently performing throughout the UK. She has performed several times for us here at Forsyths.

• Clara Schumann - 3 Romances for Violin & Piano, Op. 22

I - Andante Molto

II - Allegretto: Mit zartem Vortrage

III - Leidenschaftlich schnell

• Amy Beach - Romance for Violin & Piano, Op. 23
  
• Brahms - Scherzo
  
• Brahms - Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78

 I - Vivace ma non troppo

II - Adagio

III - Allegro Molto Moderato

Violinist Esther Abrami’s story is that of a young, modern-day woman of the internet age who has succeeded on international stages and secured a coveted recording contract with a major label due to her courage, determination, and willingness to share the ups and downs of her own remarkable life as a musician with a wide online audience.

Born in 1996 and raised in Aix-en-Provence, Esther Abrami knows how it feels to grow up in a culture far from towering classical institutions. “I had a countryside childhood,” she says, “I went to a small, country school and I was always outside as I loved nature. We had a wild garden at home; my dad built me a little bench up on the hill where I could go to read and play my violin”.

Aged just three, Esther was given her first tiny violin by her grandmother, who herself had been a gifted violinist but, as was the custom at the time, gave up her own music-making when she got married. “I remember her trying to teach me how to hold the little violin” Abrami recalls. Although enchanted by this small, beautiful object, it would not be until the age of ten before Esther started to learn how to play in earnest, taking to the violin immediately. “I loved the feeling of the violin tucked in so close to me, like a living creature. I loved the sensation of the warm sound traveling through my body. After just half an hour with the bow in my hand, I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life”, she recollects fondly.

Always serious about her art, even as a child, Esther would watch concerts on television and try to recreate the sounds she heard. Being extremely motivated and having studied incredibly hard, at the age of 14 she eventually became a boarding student at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, often getting up very early at 5 am to spend extra time in the rehearsal rooms.

Her hard work paid off and in 2017 Esther was accepted as a student at the world-leading Royal College of Music in London. Alongside her lessons, Esther also began to build her online career, playing popular classical music on her social media channels. She was more surprised and gratified by the positive response, however, when she started uploading practice videos, sight-reading videos, and tips and helpful techniques for aspiring young musicians.

Esther has approached social media with the same open-mindedness with which she performs her music. She has a sense of fun and fashion and delights in her collaborations with leading fashion houses like Givenchy. She has also entertained people online by demonstrating the difference between the sound of a priceless Stradivarius and a copy and is not averse to including the rescue cats she fosters in her posts. A recent YouTube video of her practicing with a kitten snuggled in a pouch around her waist has received over 10 Million views.

Of her upcoming debut single on Sony Classical showcasing Clara Schumann, Esther Abrami notes: “I’m passionate about highlighting the work of women composers overall. It is such a pleasure to discover and perform their works, some of whom are only just beginning to be celebrated. For International Women’s Day, I’m especially delighted to be recording a piece by the wonderful Clara Schumann”.

Esther believes people have connected with her because she has opened up and told her own real story - not just one of the glamour of international travel and performing on stage but also the truth about the hours of practice and toil that otherwise goes unseen and unnoticed. Esther confirms: “It actually makes me feel vulnerable to put practice videos out there as it’s rather intimate, but I do want other people to see what happens behind the scenes because I think that is much more inspiring. When I first came to England, I often felt that I was behind many of my peers in terms of technique, and at times that was discouraging, but I’ve come so far. I’ve learned that it’s never too late and that you can always improve – that’s the positive message I wish to convey. I am always humbled and heartened by the messages I receive from people all over the world, telling me that somehow I have encouraged them to start to learn to play an instrument. That never fails to inspire me”.

In 2019, Esther Abrami became the first classical musician to be nominated in the Social Media Superstar category at the Global Awards. She has been awarded a full scholarship for a master's degree at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under the guidance of Professor Wen Zhou Li.

Esther Abrami plays a fine Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin, kindly loaned to her through the Beare's International Violin Society.

You can read more about Esther Abrami on her website here:- https://www.estherabrami.com/

Rose McLachlan comes from a family of musicians and was born in Cheshire in 2002. She began piano lessons with her father and entered Chetham’s School of Music in 2010, initially as a chorister at Manchester Cathedral. She now studies piano with Helen Krizos.

After gaining a high distinction for grade 8 at 11, Rose was awarded the LTCL performers diploma with distinction in 2017. Rose has already had considerable success in national and international competitions. After being awarded the Sir David Wilcock’s Organ Scholarship in 2014/15 she was the overall winner of the 2016 Scottish International Youth Prize at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. As a result of winning the Yamaha Prize in the 2017 EPTA UK competition, Rose performed at St Martins in the Fields. As an overall winner of the Chetham’s concerto competition in February 2018, Rose was selected to perform the Ravel G major concerto with the Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra during the 2018-19 season.

In 2018, Rose won the Chopin and Beethoven prizes at Chetham’s and in 2019 she was the overall winner of the junior intercollegiate Beethoven Piano Society of Europe competition. Also, in 2019 Rose was the overall winner of the 11th "Dora Pejacevich” competition organized by EPTA Croatia. She has performed Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto five times with orchestra, as well as solo recitals in Lanzarote, St James Piccadilly, London, Portsmouth, and Birmingham. With her family, Rose has given recital tours in Scotland.

In March 2019, Rose performed the Clara Schumann concerto with the New Tyneside Orchestra in Newcastle conducted by Monica Buckland. 2018 saw her first commercial recording being issued by Divine Art, performing ‘Five Hebridean Dances’ by John McLeod. In October 2019 she performed Shostakovich’s Second Concerto with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth in the Malcolm Arnold Festival which was broadcast on BBC Radio Three. As a result of this concert, she was immediately invited to perform live at the Royal Festival Hall as a solo pianist on Radio 3 in a concert scheduled for 6 May 2020. In January 2020, Rose recorded piano duets by the distinguished British composer, Edward Gregson, with her father for a new commercial recording on the Naxos label. In 2021, Rose was a winner of the Pendle Young Musicians Bursary. In September 2021, Rose was a Tabor Piano Ambassador in the Leeds International Piano Competition, resulting in her first published article for the online Pianist magazine. In February 2022, Rose was the winner of the Kirklees Young Musician of the Year.

Rose is now at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, continuing her studies with Helen Krizos. She is extremely grateful to receive financial support from the Waverley Fund.

You can see more about Rose on her Facebook as well as rewatch her Forsyth recitals here:- Rose McLachlan (Scarlatti, Debussy, and Ravel) and Rose McLachlan (Beethoven - Sonata No 30 op. 109 Debussy - Preludes, Book 2)

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