Vanessa-Mae
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Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson (born October 27, 1978 in Singapore), known on stage as Vanessa-Mae (in Chinese: 陈美, Chén Měi) is an internationally known classical and pop musician. Her music style is self-described as Violin Techno-acoustic Fusion.
She was born to a Chinese mother and a Thai father. After her parents separated, her mother married Englishman Graham Nicholson. She grew up in London and is a UK citizen.
She began playing piano at the age of three and violin at five. She was the youngest violin soloist to record both Tchaikovsky and Beethoven concertos, doing so at age 13.
She is known for her flashy, sexy style and she has appeared in music videos in stylish outfits since her adolescence. Vanessa-Mae appeared on the Janet Jackson album The Velvet Rope playing a violin solo on the song "Velvet Rope".
Some critics have suggested that Vanessa-Mae's technical and musical abilities are in fact unspectacular and that she is merely a typical product of a music industry attempting to use sex appeal to sell commercialised classical music. Yet others feel she is doing a disservice to classical music. She retorts that these critics are too traditional and élitist and because they are unable to appreciate her fusion of classical and pop music nor perform music themselves, they resort to vindictive cynicism.
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Discography (albums)
- Violin (1990)
- My Favourite Things—Kids' Classics (1991)
- Tchaikovsky & Beethoven Violin Concertos (1991/1992)
- The Violin Player (1994)
- The Violin Player—Japanese Releases (1995)
- The Alternative Record from Vanessa-Mae (1996)
- The Classical Album 1 (1996)
- China Girl—the Classical Album 2 (1997)
- Storm (1997)
- The Original Four Seasons and the Devil's Trill Sonata—the Classical Album 3 (1998)
- The Classical Collection—Part 1 (2000)
- Subject to Change (2001)
- The Best of Vanessa-Mae (2002)
- Choreography (2004)
External links
Official web sites
- Official Web Site of Vanessa-Mae (http://www.vanessa-mae.com/)
Fan web sites
- The Magic of Vanessa-Mae (http://vanessa-mae.org/)
- The Red Hot Vanessa-Mae Homepage (http://www.vanessamae.com/)
- Vanessa-Mae: Saying Power On Strings (http://www.vanessa-mae.nu/)
- Four Seasons of Vanessa-Mae (links to the fans' forum) (http://www.vanessamae.org/)
- Vanessa-Mae ... Changing Worlds (http://www.vanessa-mae.us/)
- Vanessa-Mae Reflection (VMR) (Links to other Fans Sites) (http://www.vanessa-mae.co.uk/)de:Vanessa Mae