British violinist, soloist, chamber musician and orchestra director

Profile - Peter Fisher (violin)  

Peter Fisher is an artist of remarkable versatility and insight who possesses a tone quality of great beauty and lyricism. His success in the Alexandre Glasunov Violin Competition in Paris confirms his place amongst the leading British violinists of his generation.

Much travelled and having studied with masters from three great schools of playing (Bohemian, Carl Flesch and American), Peter is in a unique position to capture the spirit of virtually any Western musical tradition. Studies under Květa and Jaroslav Vaněček, Ricardo Odnoposoff and Franco Gulli at the Royal College of Music, the Musikhochschule, Stuttgart and the Music School of Indiana University, Bloomington, U.S.A. respectively have enabled him to achieve a level of artistry, which is now receiving increasing international recognition.

Over the last forty years Peter has collaborated with the Dankworth family, appearing regularly at the Stables Theatre Wavendon, as well as performing on several occasions for Royal Gala Evenings together with pianist Avril Dankworth. Sir John Dankworth composed his piece “Mariposas” for Peter’s Wigmore Hall debut in 1996 and invited Peter as special guest to perform a fully orchestrated version of the work in the Royal Albert Hall, to mark the occasion of both his and Dame Cleo Laine’s Golden Jubilee. Peter’s contribution to this celebration inspired the Times to hail him as one in a “handful of the world’s finest musicians”.

Peter considers his collaboration with the Dankworth family to have been a fine preparation for his success as a headline artist for many of the world's major cruiselines, from which he still occasionally receives invitations to perform. 

Peter Fisher playing in Tavistock, April 2012, with members of the Chamber Ensemble of London

Equally at home in the role of soloist, chamber musician and director, Peter established the Chamber Ensemble of London in 1997, consisting of handpicked players from the leading London-based orchestras and chamber music ensembles.

The Ensemble has particularly championed British music of all periods and styles and is fortunate to enjoy a special relationship with Plymothian composer Clive Jenkins, the Ensemble's composer-in-residence. In addition to composing numerous original works for the Ensemble Clive has rediscovered many forgotten British masterpieces and has provided extremely effective string orchestra arrangements of repertoire for larger orchestra, thus enabling a wide range of music to be heard in smaller venues. 

The Chamber Ensemble has released several CDs to critical acclaim. Please refer to these under the 'RECORDINGS' section of this website.

“Peter Fisher brought the dazzling brilliance of the Victorian salon to his solos, topped off with Fritz Kreisler’s Caprice Viennois with audacious double-stopping and shivery harmonics. His instrumental brilliance was matched by John Dankworth himself…” The Times