BIOGRAPHY

German born violinist with both British and Canadian citizenship, Vanessa grew up into a multicultural and musical family. Her mother a Canadian pianist and father, a British violinist. Vanessa holds a Master in Performance degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a Bachelor of Music with Honours degree from the Royal Northern College of Music, where she studied with Ofer Falk and Pavel Fischer respectively. Prior to her studies, Vanessa was taught by her father, Christopher White whilst a music scholar at both Oakham School and Loughborough High School. Vanessa is also honoured to have received tuition from esteemed violinists such as Levon Chilingirian, Andrew Watkinson, Bartosz Woroch, Yair Kless and Mauricio Fuks. She has performed as a concerto soloist with orchestras playing works such as Dvorak Romance, Saint Saens Rondo Capriccioso and Mendelssohn concerto. Vanessa has also performed in numerous recitals around the UK with pianist, Radu Prisada. 

 

Vanessa is based in London and the Midlands and freelances with various orchestras in the UK including the Bliss Sinfonia and Sheffield Repertoire Orchestra. As a dedicated chamber musician, Vanessa has had the opportunity to work with some of the most distinguished chamber musicians. She co-founded the Alegría Piano Trio in 2015 with Imy Luc and Lizzie Elliott. The trio have received coachings from Gaspard Trio, Sitkovetsky Trio, Elias Quartet, Jeremy Young and Petr Prause and were finalists of the RNCM’s Hirsch prize. She has also performed the Mendelssohn Octet with the Elias Quartet. Vanessa has also performed lots of chamber music repertoire with members of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Maastricht Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra. In particular, she enjoys performing violin duets with her father! Vanessa has enjoyed playing in many prestigious venues including Winchester Cathedral, The Sage, Gateshead, the Barbican and Kings Place, London. 

 

Vanessa is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of musicians and enjoys a busy teaching career. Vanessa started as a graduate music assistant at Rugby School in September 2020 where she enjoyed experiencing many aspects of running a busy full-time music department as well as coaching various ensembles and individual lessons. After completing her year as a graduate assistant, Vanessa was fortunate to be re-employed at Rugby School as a peripatetic violin teacher where she continues to teacher violin students and coach ensembles. In April 2023, Vanessa was delighted to join the music department at Bilton Grange Preparatory School as a violin tutor. Vanessa is particularly passionate about teaching children who struggle with learning difficulties such as dyslexia. 

 

In Vanessa’s spare time she enjoys travelling to new and familiar places, hiking in the Black Forest (where Vanessa was born in Germany) and obsessing over her love for dogs in particular Basset hounds and German Shorthaired Pointers.