Shulah Oliver (violin)

Shulah is a well-respected violinist (and violist) who is regularly invited to perform concertos and give recitals around the U.K and Europe and has also perform in Sri Lanka in the presence of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister.

Shulah gained a Distinction for her Masters at the Royal Academy of Music, having studied violin with Howard Davis and was awarded the Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music for an outstanding Final Recital. Her studies were assisted by awards from the Elmley and EMI Music Sound Foundations, Musicians’ Benevolent Fund and Winifred Disney. In 2004, she graduated from the Royal College of Music with a First Class Honours Joint Principal (violin / viola) degree.

Shulah is a sought after chamber musician including lead violinist of the Astaria String Quartet, Fordante and Duo Armande. As a soloist and ensemble member she has played in many of the leading concert venues in Europe and been invited to play in festivals such as the Paganini London Festival, Norfolk & Norwich, Three Choirs, and St. Endellion Festivals. She freelances with orchestras including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Northern Ballet Sinfonia, Longborough Festival Opera, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestra of the Swan and is invited to guest lead orchestras.

She has been a finalist and received commendations in competitions including the Haverhill Sinfonia Soloist Competition, Delius Prize, Wilfred Parry Prize, Winifred Small Prize and Sir Arthur Bliss Prize, and received awards including the John Mundy and D-Day Fund Prize Awards from RAM.

Following on from her Masters Research Project about the British composer Eva Ruth Spalding (1882–1969), Shulah continues to enjoy researching and performing the works of composers who are little known or works that have been forgotten and as a result has been invited to perform for the Elgar Society, Delius Society and to take part in projects to help revived the work of composers such as York Bowen and George Linstead. With her pianist, Simon Marlow, Shulah has released two CDs featuring some of these works – “Portraits of England” (a CD of works by leading composers of the late 19th and early 20th century including a wonderful sonata by Thomas Dunhill) and “V.C.E” (a CD featuring Vaughan William’s Lark Ascending in its original version for Violin and Piano, the Elgar Violin Sonata and a beautiful sonata by the little known composer, Christian Carpenter).

Shulah was the only violinist selected from the UK to take part and perform at the prestigious London Masterclasses with Gyorgy Pauk on three occasions. She has participated in many masterclasses with leading violinists / violists including Tasmin Little, When Zhou Lee, Thomas Brandis, Bruno Giuranna and Yuri Bashmit.

Shulah is proud to be one of the founders and part of the Artistic Directorial team of Chamber Music @ Worcester – an annual festival promoting Music in the Community Projects, Education Projects & Workshops and Chamber Music recitals of the highest quality in Worcester and the surrounding areas. It aims to create a vibrant, accessible and enjoyable environment, where people of all ages can interact with classical chamber music concerts and events.

Shulah loves to spend time the Guide Dog Puppies that her family walk and has raised over £55,000 by giving recitals and concerts and busking at Christmas, to sponsor Guide Dog Puppies through their training. Shulah also raises funds for other charities – in 2014 she organised a concert in Worcester Cathedral in aid of CLIC Sargent (Cancer and Leukaemia In Childhood) that raised just shy of £15,000, and ran the Worcester City 10K in aid of Guide Dogs & 2015 in aid of CLIC Sargent.

Visit her website at www.shulaholiver.co.uk