Francesca Barritt

About

Francesca Barritt (violin) is equally at home as concert soloist, orchestral leader and chamber musician and enjoys a busy and varied freelance career. She grew up in Newcastle and, later, Hertfordshire in a very musical family and is now based in north London.

Francesca nurtures her love of chamber music through her work with the Del Mar Piano Trio, the Lawson Trio, the Berkeley Ensemble and the Florian Quartet. With these ensembles she has performed all over the country for festivals and music societies and been broadcast on Radio 3. Her recent solo engagements have included performances of the Beethoven, Bruch, Brahms and Sibelius violin concertos, Brahms’ double concerto and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending.

Francesca has loved playing in orchestras ever since her time in the National Youth Orchestra. She now freelances extensively with many orchestras and ensembles in the UK. Additionally, she is the leader of Covent Garden Sinfonia and English Touring Opera, and is a member of City of London Sinfonia. Francesca is a regular leader for Multi Story Orchestra, an award-winning group based in a Peckham car park with whom she recently performed as part of the BBC Proms. She is a regular member of the John Wilson Orchestra, appearing at the Proms, across the UK, on television broadcasts and numerous EMI recordings.

Francesca is an experienced and very enthusiastic violin teacher, teaching privately in London and Hertfordshire, with pupils ranging from beginner level to post grade 8 and members of the National Youth Orchestra and also including adult amateur students. She is a member of the instrumental teaching faculty at Royal Holloway University of London and teaches at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department.

Francesca plays a violin by Neapolitan violin maker Pasquale Ventapane, which dates from 1870.