About ViVA

Benedict Holland
Leader/Artistic Advisor

Benedict Holland has been the Leader of sinfonia ViVA since April 2001 and became Artistic Advisor in May 2006. He relishes the diversity of this job which, as well as leading the Orchestra, entails appearing as director and soloist, performing chamber music and participating in education projects. Recent appearances with ViVA have included performances of concertos by Mozart and Mendelssohn, and The Four Seasons of Vivaldi and Piazzolla. Chamber music has taken him from duos to octets; he has directed Viennese, string ensemble and chamber orchestra concerts from the violin and has collaborated with students from schools and colleges in the East Midlands region.

Benedict has been invited to lead many of the country's major orchestras, including Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Northern Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony and Scottish Ensemble. As a chamber musician, he has worked with various ensembles both in the UK and abroad, undertaking British Council tours, and was a founder member of the Matisse Piano Quartet with whom he broadcast regularly for the BBC. He has also appeared as leader and soloist with The Orchestra of the Golden Age which performs on authentic instruments.

In addition to directing and leading, Benedict began an association with Opera North in 2002 as Assistant Conductor on productions of The Secret Marriage, Francesca da Rimini and The Magic Flute, and in the summer of 2004 he conducted Opera North's production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in the Grand Theatre, Leeds.

He also devotes much of his time to teaching, with classes at the RNCM and Chetham's School of Music.

Benedict studied the violin at the Royal Academy of Music with Manoug Parikian and later with Yossi Zivoni at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he won many awards, both for solo performance and chamber music.

He currently plays on a violin made by J Rocca of 1837.

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Photo credit: Roger V Moody