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Child prodigy, internationally touring artist at 16, and a seasoned virtuoso by his early adult years, violinist
Charlie Siem has fulfilled the promise foreshadowed in his youth. He already has a large and dedicated following, and not just because of his immense talent on the fiddle:
Siem, with his youthful good looks and dashing appearance, has given endorsements in men's fashion and appeared in the popular Italian men's fashion magazine L'Uomo Vogue. He has also championed causes such as raising awareness of hearing loss among children. But it is obviously his extraordinary musical skills that stand foremost in his colorful public persona.
Siem has both an all-inclusive technique and an interpretive acumen that allow him to play a broad range of repertory, from
Bach,
Beethoven,
Paganini, and
Brahms to
Elgar,
Shostakovich, and contemporary composers like
Robin Holloway and
Gabriel Prokofiev.
Siem has appeared with such orchestras as the
Moscow Philharmonic,
London Mozart Players,
Royal Philharmonic, Israel Camerata, and
Bergen Philharmonic and at major recital venues across Europe and the U.S. He has also entered the crossover realm, with appearances in pop concerts, sharing the bill with such artists as
Boy George.
Siem has recorded for the Warner Classics and Challenge labels.
Charlie Siem was born in London in 1986. Inspired to play the violin at three years of age after hearing a performance of the
Beethoven Violin Concerto by
Yehudi Menuhin,
Siem showed remarkable advancement in his musical skills throughout childhood. He studied music at Girton College, Cambridge; Guildhall School of Music; and finally at the Royal College of Music in London. Among his teachers were
Shlomo Mintz and Itzhak Rashkovsky.
Even in his student years
Siem was making critically successful concert tours. He made his first recording when he was 21, a CD of works by
Elgar and
Grieg, on the Challenge label. On its release the following year, critics hailed
Siem for his fresh approach to the music.
In 2009
Siem made highly acclaimed tours of London, Paris, Bergen, Oslo, and Basel. The following year his first CD for Warner Classics was issued, a collection of light classics by
Kreisler, Bazzini,
Paganini,
Sarasate,
Waxman, and Ponce. 2010 also saw
Siem on tour, this time performing concertos by
Bruch and
Dvorák with the
Czech National Symphony Orchestra. That year he also performed in concerts in London, New York, and Tel Aviv.