ABOUT
Alexandra Mackenzie is internationally recognised as an outstanding performer and educator. She spent eight years in New York where performances ranged from working with the legendary S.E.M. ensemble and playing with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to touring with a ragtime band and recording for Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and the Wu Tan Clan. During her time there she appeared at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall and Alice Tully and played concerts in 43 of America's 50 States.
She has been a guest artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts, a fellow at Tanglewood, and has participated in chamber music festivals across the globe. Live radio broadcasts, include Radio 3, Classic fm, NPR and German National Radio. Alexandra now lives in South East London. She has played with the English Chamber Orchestra for over a decade and is in frequent demand as a guest principal with orchestras across the UK. She recently made her on stage costumed debut as a cello-playing suffragette in Elena Langer’s acclaimed new opera ‘Rhondda Rips it Up’, for Welsh National Opera, and has been working for Sir Matthew Bourne and his New Adventures company, in his brand new production of Romeo and Juliet featuring a rescored version of the Prokofiev ballet (by Terry Davies) for 15 solo players. Alexandra regularly collaborates with pianist Ingrid Sawers. Alexandra teaches at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department. In May 2011 she was elected an ARAM in recognition of her outstanding contribution to music.
Alexandra’s debut CD ‘Beyond Twilight’, with Delphian Records is due to be released on 20th October 2023.
AUDIO
by Alexandra Mackenzie Cello
Alexandra Mackenzie. Cellist and Cello Teacher, London UK.
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Alexandra Mackenzie
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Alexandra Mackenzie
CELLO TEACHER
In a lifetime of music making, continuous evolution and study I have been privileged to learn from, and work with, some of the worlds greatest pedagogues. As a child I was very lucky to live nearby and be discovered by the legendary Sheila Nelson, attending weekly chamber music sessions at her house. I also attended the Royal Academy of Music Intermediate Department, and studied with Florence Hooton. Flo was an amazing, dynamic teacher, whose legacy resonates throughout the cello playing world. I return to her exercises and ‘Technique with a Smile’ daily. I was awarded a BMus (Hons) from the Royal Academy of Music, studying with David Strange, and winning the Carr Prize and Patten Award. I performed the Lutoslawski Concerto, with Thomas Dausgaard conducting the Academy’s Sinfonia Orchestra, and the Haydn Cello Concerto at St-Martin-in-the-Fields in my final year. My masters degree is from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where I was a scholarship student of David Soyer and Julia Lichten.
I am now a passionate teacher myself, particularly enjoying unlocking technical difficulties and giving talented students the chance to develop their own voice and express themselves. I have taught at the junior department of the Royal Academy of Music for over a decade and teach at summer schools and give masterclasses around the world. One memorable masterclass was an ad hoc afternoon in Cartagena, Colombia. They have an amazing organisation, the Battuta Foundation, similar to the El Sistema program. I was playing at the Cartagena Festival and offered to hear some children play. I expected to give a class of about an hour. Six hours later there was still a queue of enthusiastic students waiting to perform. Their joy and desire to learn was overwhelming.
I regularly undertake education workshops for the English Chamber Orchestra, coach sections and have conducted at NYO Inspire, and am a frequent tutor for the South London Youth Orchestra. My students have gained scholarships to many of the most prestigious secondary schools in the country, including St Paul’s, Westminster and Tiffins, and to all the major music conservatories, Oxbridge, and Ivy League schools in America. I am also a grade and diploma examiner for the ABRSM and I am proud to note that none of my students have ever, yet(!) failed an Associated Board exam. I maintain a private studio at my home, in South East London with regular studio concerts. I am happy to take on students of all levels and abilities, as long as they are fully engaged and eager to discover all that the cello has to offer. Students are always encouraged to find their own voice and connection to music. I believe that students can only fully express themselves when they have complete technical control and my approach to technique is meticulous yet always individually moulded, with a love of music at the heart of everything
