Olive Zorian
| Olive Zorian | |
|---|---|
| Born |
16 March 1916 Manchester |
| Died | 17 May 1965 (aged 49) London |
| Genres | Classical |
| Instruments | Violin |
| Associated acts | Zorian Quartet |
Olive Nevart Zorian (16 March 1916 in Manchester – 17 May 1965 in London) was an English classical violinist.
She was the daughter of Samuel Hovannes Zorian (1870–1955) and Ada Mary Zorian (died 1965). Samuel was an Armenian hosiery manufacturer and musician who had been imprisoned by the Turkish authorities in the 1890s as a political activist, and who thereafter relocated to Manchester, England.
From 1932, she studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music under Arthur Catterall, funded first by a scholarship from the College and later by one from Lancashire County Council. She continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1937, she was awarded as student prize a violin bow made by J & A Beare. Also in 1937, a string quartet which consisted of her (violin I), Marjorie Lavers (violin II), Susan Davies (viola) and Vivian Joseph (cello) won the Sir Edward Cooper Prize for ensemble playing.
In 1938, she was leader (concertmaster) of an orchestra assembled by Rudolph Dolmetsch (1906–42).
She performed five times as soloist at The Proms, in London, 1940–47. In one of those performances, in 1943, she gave the first performance in England of Saudade for violin and orchestra by South African composer Arnold van Wyk (1916–83).
In 1942, she founded the Zorian String Quartet, in which she played first violin. The other founding members were Marjorie Lavers (violin II), Winifred Copperwheat (1905–76, viola) and Norina Semino (cello). The quartet gave the premiere performances of, and made the first recordings of, several string quartets by English composers, including Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett, and gave the English premieres of others.
...
Wikipedia