Alice Barron is a violinist-composer based in London, with a distinctive international career in contemporary and intercultural musics. Alice has performed as principal second violin for Nigel Kennedy’s Orchestra of Life in Paris and Vienna; in ‘Measure For Measure’ at Shakespeare’s Globe (violin and voice); regularly with London Sinfonietta including at the BBC Proms and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival; at WOMAD Australia and New Zealand with Sam Lee; with Rambert, Quincy Jones, Talvin Singh and L. Subramaniam. Current interdisciplinary and intercultural composition projects include ‘SHE’ with storyteller Vayu Naidu (Women in the Arts Festival 2022); a forthcoming album release for violin/viola, prepared sarods and electronics with Ole André Farstad; music for Himali Singh Soin's ‘Third Pole’ exhibition in Madrid (2022); and UK performances with Kathak dance, sitar and tabla (Sanju Sahai). With an individual style that sits at the intersections of classical, folk and experimental musics, Alice uses improvisation as a means of composition.
Alice’s band, iyatraQuartet, make original music rooted in ancient melodies and folk tales and received Nigel Kennedy’s ‘Kennedy-Kolodziejski Award’ in 2019. Their second album, Break the Dawn supported by PRS Foundation’s Open Fund, has featured on BBC Radio 3, BBC 6 Music and Jazz FM and has been described as ‘absolutely beautiful’ (Cerys Matthews, 2020) and ‘stunningly performed’ (Folk Radio, 2020).
Alice has toured and studied extensively with Karnatic violinists in South India, including the renowned Mysore Brothers, generously supported by the Finzi Trust (2020) and SEMPRE (2017). In 2020 she completed a doctorate at the University of Oxford exploring cultural exchange and creative collaboration in her own artistic practice in India and the UK. Alice previously studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where she was awarded a distinction for her Masters degree (2012).
Alice is profoundly inspired by the human and artistic connections she has made through projects spanning the traditions of Syria, Palestine, Ghana, India, Norway and London’s rich cultural scene. Her discography includes recordings with Meelodi (The Great Blue Wheel, 2020), iyatraQuartet (2015, 2020), Philharmonia Orchestra (2019) and multiple releases with Peter Sheppard Skærved’s string group, Longbow (for Toccata Classics, Naxos and Métier Records).
Photo by Gerard Collett
