TIMOTHY RIDOUT viola
Selected as a BBC New Generation Artist in 2019, Timothy is one of the most sought after violists of his generation.
This season Timothy appears as soloist with the Orchestre de Lille, Salzburg Camerata, Philharmonia Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Orchestre National Bordeaux, Aachen Symphony, BBC Symphony and Siberian State Symphony Orchestras. He records for the Harmonia Mundi Nova series and with l’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne for Claves Records. In January 2020 he won Hamburg Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural Sir Jeffrey Tate Prize.
Other highlights include recitals at Wigmore Hall, Auditorium du Louvre and the Lucerne Festival. He takes part in the Lockenhaus, Heimbach and Kronberg Festivals, collaborating with Isabel Faust, Janine Jansen, Kian Soltani, Benjamin Grosvenor, Lars Vogt, Nicolas Altstaedt and Christian Tetzlaff, among many others. Further afield he returns to Japan and joins the Marlboro Academy in the USA on the invitation of Mitsuko Uchida.
Over the last year Timothy has made his debut with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, undertaken a residency with Baden-Baden Philharmonie, and performed the Walton Concerto with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under the auspices of the Orpheum Foundation. He has worked with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, David Zinman, Gabor Takács-Nagy, Sylvain Cambreling, Jamie Phillips and Sir Andras Schiff.
During 2019 he collaborated with Steven Isserlis, Joshua Bell, Jeremy Denk, the Quatuor Arod and Nash Ensemble at Wigmore Hall and made his debut at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Heidelberger-Frühling, Montpelier and Aspen Music Festivals. Sought after as a chamber musician Timothy took part in festivals across Europe including the Bergen, Rosendal, Evian, Boswil Sommer, Musikdorf-Ernen and Molyvos Festivals.
In 2016 Timothy won 1st Prize in the Lionel Tertis Competition and was selected by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT). Other prizes include the 2019 Thierry Scherz Award at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad and 1st Prize at the 2014 Cecil Aronowitz Competition.
Born in London in 1995, Timothy studied at the Royal Academy of Music graduating with the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence. He completed his Masters at the Kronberg Academy with Nobuko Imai in 2019 and in 2018 took part in Kronberg Academy’s Chamber Music Connects the World.
Timothy plays on a viola by Peregrino di Zanetto c.1565-75 generously on loan from Beare's International Violin Society.
PRESS
Violist Timothy Ridout shines with virtuosity
Neueste Nachrichten / Baden-Baden Philharmonie Bartok Concerto / January 2019
Master virtuoso / Timothy Ridout with Bartok Viola Concerto in Baden-Baden
Badisches Tagblatt / Baden-Baden Philharmonie / January 2019
Top performances were in abundance...Amongst the standouts was Timothy Ridout’s transfixing rendition of Britten’s Lachrymae. Closing a concert intended as an elegy to Benjamin Britten on the very date of the composer’s 100th birthday, the young British violist soared to new heights in a rendition that brought many to tears, a virtual recreation of the Dowland text, “Flow my tears.”
www.violinist.com / Viola Congress Rotterdam - Utrecht Strings / November 2018
I was strongly impressed by the gorgeous singing tone that Timothy Ridout produced. Furthermore, he was soulful and sensitive in his delivery of the music and these virtues were to recur time and again in his performance...
I greatly admired Timothy Ridout’s performance of this great concerto [Walton]... He was able to deliver when virtuosity was required, but what will live longest in my memory was his wonderful response to the many ardently lyrical passages.
Seen and Heard International / 3 Choirs Festival Philharmonia Orchestra / August 2018
...a poignantly cast rendition of the concerto...superbly effective in the final movement...particularly the closing moments, Ridout tilting Walton’s final chord from minor to major in such an understated way that it became the most modest of triumphs.
Bachtrack / 3 Choirs Festival Philharmonia Orchestra / August 2018
This disc contains some of the best music written for the viola in the 19th Century….[ Ridout] is a fine, young violist with a solid tone, perfect intonation, solid technique, and charisma. I look forward to hearing more from him.
American Record Guide 2018 / Vieuxtemps CD (CHamps HIll Records)
A gorgeous tone, a thoughtful approach to phrasing and an infectious sense of impetuosity.
The Gramophone / Vieuxtemps CD (Champs Hill Records) / May 2017
Ridout displays a consistently imaginative ear for tonal colours and an exciting variety of vibrato ... clearly a talent to follow.
The Strad / Vieuxtemps CD (Champs Hill Records) / July 2017
Timothy Ridout, with his technical perfection and beautifully warm and soft tone, perfectly matched the Romantic yearning [of Cecil Forsyth's Viola Concerto in G minor].
Neueste Nachrichten Baden Baden / January 2017