Yehudi Menuhin School alumni premiere ‘Corinne’s Song’ in memory of violinist Corinne Chapelle

This article originally appeared in Gramophone.co.uk.

A large group of Yehudi Menuhin School alumni have performed and recorded Corinne’s Song, an original piece of music for string orchestra, in memory of fellow alumna Corinne Chapelle. Composed by Cheryl Frances-Hoad (who originally trained as a cellist and pianist at the Menuhin School), the project was part of a fundraising effort launched back in February to raise the £30,000 required to treat violinist Chapelle’s rare and aggressive form of cancer. It was nearing completion, and crowdfunding donations were already flooding in, when the tragic news of Chappelle’s death in March, aged just 44 and before she’d reached the end of her treatment, was announced. Nevertheless, more than 50 alumni – including Corina Belcea, Nicola Benedetti and Alina Ibragimova – decided to finish the song as a tribute to their friend.

The Grammy-nominated, French-American violinist began her violin studies at the age of two. When Yehudi Menuhin heard her play at 15, he called her ‘one of the most promising talents of her generation’. Twelve months later, she studied with him for two years at the Menuhin School in England, whereupon she moved to New York to study at Juilliard with Pinchas Zukerman. She subsequently studied at the Hoschule für Musik München and then privately with Josef Gingold.

Chapelle’s career saw her win various awards at international violin competitions; she also won an Echo Klassik and a Diapason d’Or. She performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg; in addition, she premiered the Barber Violin Concerto in China, and performed at leading festivals around the world including Salzburg, Aspen and Prussia Cove. She collaborated with artists such as Fabio Biondi, Ádám Fischer and Alban Gerhardt, as well as with the Swiss Chamber Soloists. Chapelle appears on numerous film soundtrack recordings, including Paddington and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; her recording of Cerha chamber music with the aforementioned Swiss Chamber Soloists for Claves was well-received in Gramophone’s pages (9/18): ‘The 10 members of the peripatetic Swiss Chamber players perform splendidly throughout, with pinpoint accuracy of ensemble and intonation.’

Corinne’s Song is being presented by the YMS Alumni ‘in loving memory of an extraordinary violinist and human being who shall forever be missed’. She leaves behind her partner, the cellist David Cohen, and their six-year-old daughter Leila – should anyone wish to contribute to Leila’s education, please email davidcohen007@yahoo.com