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Vanessa-Mae
Vanessa-Mae at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 21 October 2004
Background information
Birth name	Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn
Born	October 27, 1978 (1978-10-27) (age 30) Singapore
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Pop, classical
Occupation(s)	Violinist
Instrument(s)	Violin
Years active	1990–present
Label(s)	Sony BMG, Virgin, EMI
Website	www.vanessa-mae.com

Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson (born October 27, 1978), known professionally as Vanessa-Mae (in Chinese: 陳美, Chén Měi), is an internationally known British pop and classical musician, especially noted for her violin skills. Her music style is self-described as "violin techno-acoustic fusion," as several of her albums prominently feature the techno style.

Childhood

Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore to a Thai father (Varaprong Vanakorn) and a Chinese mother (Pamela Tan). After her parents separated, her mother married Englishman Graham Nicholson, and the family moved to England when Vanessa-Mae was four years old. She grew up in London and is a British citizen.

Professional life

Vanessa-Mae began playing piano at the age of three and violin at five.

She was relatively famous in the United Kingdom throughout her childhood making regular appearances on television (for example on Blue Peter) mostly involving classical music and conservative style. According to Guinness World Records, she is the youngest soloist to record both the Beethoven and Tchaikovsky violin concertos, a feat she accomplished at the age of thirteen.¹ During this time she attended the Francis Holland School in central London.

Vanessa-Mae made her international professional debut at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany in 1988, and also during 1988 made her concerto debut on stage with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London.

On entering adolescence Vanessa-Mae broke away from her traditional classical influences and became known for her flashy, sexy style appearing in music videos in stylish outfits. She appeared on the Janet Jackson album The Velvet Rope playing a violin solo on the song "Velvet Rope." Her first pop-style album, The Violin Player, was released in 1995, and is still regarded as one of the best works of her career.

In April 2006, Vanessa-Mae was ranked as the wealthiest young entertainer under 30 in the UK in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006.² having an estimated fortune of about £32 million ($64 million) stemming from concerts and record sales of over an estimated 10 million copies world wide, which is an unprecedented achievement for a young female violinist.

Vanessa-Mae announced in 2006 that she would be releasing a new album sometime between 2007 and 2008. The album will consist of inspiration from great ballets and opera themes.

Her Violins

Vanessa-Mae most often uses one of two types of violins, a Guadagnini acoustic violin or a Zeta Jazz model electric violin.

The Guadagnini was made in 1761, and was purchased by her parents at an auction for £150,000. It was stolen in January, 1995, but was recovered by the police two months later. She once fell and broke it, but it was repaired.

In addition, she uses one of two Zeta Jazz Model electric violins, one of which is white and the other one of which features decals of the U.S. flag. She has also been using a silver-gray Zeta Jazz Model electric violin since 2001.

In addition to these two main violins, she sometimes buys violins and resells them later, giving the proceeds to charity.

Occasional media appearances show her to be using a clear acrylic electric violin made by Ted Brewer.

Discography

Albums

• Violin (1990)
• Kids' Classics (1991)
• Tchaikovsky & Beethoven Violin Concertos (Vanessa Mae) (1991/1992)
• The Violin Player (1995)
• The Alternative Record from Vanessa-Mae (1996)
• The Classical Album 1 (November 12, 1996)
• China Girl: The Classical Album 2 (September 9, 1997)
• Storm (UK: October 27, 1997; USA: July 14, 1998)
• The Original Four Seasons and the Devil's Trill Sonata: The Classical Album 3 (February 16, 1999)
• The Classical Collection: Part 1 (2000)
• Subject to Change (July 17, 2001)
• The Best of Vanessa-Mae (November 5, 2002)
• Xpectation (Jazz collaboration with Prince) (2003)
• The Ultimate (December 23, 2003)
• Choreography (2004)
• Platinum Collection (2007)

Special edition albums

• The Violin Player: Japanese Release (1995)
• The Classical Album 1: Silver Limited Edition (January 1, 1997)
• Storm: Asian Special Edition (January 1, 1997)
• The Original Four Seasons and the Devil's Trill Sonata: Asian Special Edition (February 1, 1999)
• Subject to Change: Asian Special Edition (July 1, 2001)
• The Ultimate: Dutch Limited Edition (January, 2004)

Singles

• "Toccata & Fugue" (1995)
• "Toccata & Fugue - The Mixes" (1995)
• "Red Hot" (1995)
• "Classical Gas" (1995)
• "I'm a-Doun for Lack O' Johnnie" (1996)
• "Happy Valley" (1997)
• "I Feel Love Part 1" (1997)
• "I Feel Love Part 2" (1997)
• "The Devil's Trill & Reflection" (1998)
• "Destiny" (2001)
• "White Bird" (2001)

Filmography

• The Violin Fantasy (1998)
• Arabian Nights (2000)
• The Making of Me (TV series) (2008)

References

1. ^ Guinness World Records. (2003). Guinness World Records Ltd. 191. ISBN 1-892051-17-6. 
2. ^ "Vanessa-Mae tops young rich list", BBC News (2006-04-21). Retrieved on 13 November 2008. 

External links

• Official website
• Vanessa-Mae at Allmusic
• Vanessa-Mae at the Internet Movie Database
• Vanessa-Mae at Discogs
• Vanessa-Mae discography at MusicBrainz
• Promotional Shot