Nazrin Rashidova

The internationally acclaimed Azerbaijani-British violin virtuoso made her solo debut at the age of three in Baku, and was awarded a Gold Medal by Cairo Opera House for an exceptional violin recital three years later. She founded FeMusa Orchestra, Britain’s first female chamber orchestra for 70 years, at the Academy in 2008. They have been featured on BBC World News, Euronews and LondonLive and have given numerous concerts in London, Oman, Baku, Gabala and Paris.

Having joined the Academy at the age of 15, Nazrin has played on a rare collection of violins by Stradivari and Guarneri. She studied with professors Erich Gruenberg, Felix Andrievsky and Lydia Mordkovitch. A prize winner in several international competitions, she has appeared on international TV and radio, played for royalty and other dignitaries, and also performed in the USA, Japan, Europe and the Middle East.

Her recordings for Naxos and First Hand Records have been critically acclaimed by The Strad, Gramophone, Diapason, Fanfare, Ritmo, Classical Guitar Magazine, American Record Guide, SWR2 Radio and neue musikzeitung.

Nazrin is recognised as a leading authority on Émile Sauret, her doctorate at the Academy culminating in the launch of her own edition of his monumental 24 Études Caprices (op.64 published by Edition Peters) following the release of a world premiere four-volume recording series of these works (issued by Naxos between 2017 and 2020).

In support of her research, she was awarded one of the most prestigious awards of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, The John Clementi Collard Fellowship and The Clarence Myerscough Trust award at the Academy. Three of the volumes were recorded on the c.1685 ‘Sauret’ Stradivari violin, kindly loaned to her by John Ludlow.

She has made video recordings on the 1749 violin by Antonio Bagatella, 1776 mute violin by Nicolo Gagliano, 1728 Guarneri del Gesù and the 1811 by Nicolas Lupot — kindly loaned by Beare Violins Ltd to feature in the Stradivarius and the Golden Age of Violins and Guitars exhibition, held in the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona between November 2024 and September 2025.

Alongside her performing, research and teaching career, Nazrin periodically writes articles for The Strad magazine. She is regularly invited to give masterclasses and lecture talks in music conservatoires nationally and internationally, and appears as an adjudicator in music festivals and as a jury member in international violin competitions.

She plays on a violin after G. B. Guadagnini Milan 1753, ‘Nazrin’ by David Rattray.

Image: Omur Black