Leader - Nathaniel Vallois

Nathaniel Vallois was born in Paris in 1974 and gave his first solo performance aged nine in Sion, Switzerland. Two years later he was invited to play for Zino Francescatti. His teachers included Miriam Solovieff, Itzhak Rashkovsky and Ruggiero Ricci and he is grateful for the advice of his artistic mentor, Camilla Wicks.

The recipient of many prizes and awards, he gave his major solo debut in 1993, playing Bartok's First Concerto in Canterbury Cathedral, as part of the Festival. Since then he has performed extensively as soloist and chamber musician in the U.K. He has given many concerto and recital appearances in London's main venues, (Barbican Centre, South Bank Centre, St. John's Smith Square, Fairfield Halls, Conway Hall, Blackheath Halls, Duke's Hall), and at music festivals in Britain. He is invited to perform, broadcast and give masterclasses abroad, including in France, Germany, Spain, Romania, Turkey, Israel, South Africa and the U.S.A.

Nathaniel Vallois is the Senior Violin Teacher at the Birmingham Conservatoire and teaches at the Purcell School of Music. His recordings include a recital CD of French music entitled "Beau Soir" , and a CD devoted to Hugh Wood's chamber music recently awarded 5 stars by the BBC Music Magazine. 2010 performances include performances of the Britten Concerto in Coventry Cathedral and Birmingham Adrian Boult Hall, recitals in Spain and Israel. Nathaniel has a great interest in historical artists and recordings and is a regular contributor to The Strad magazine and a consultant for record companies.

Nathaniel first performed as a soloist with the Whitehall Orchestra in March 1999 playing Tchaikovsky's violin concerto and since then has also performed the Shostakovitch, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Berg and Glazunov concertos with us. He was appointed leader of the orchestra in September 2001.