Gwen Thompson
Gwen Thompson-Robinow, Canadian violinist and member of the Order of Canada, has enjoyed a more than fifty- year career as performer, educator, teacher, and coach. She has nurtured young musicians in her role as professor of violin at Western University, the University of British Columbia, the Vancouver Academy of Music, the University of Manitoba, the University of Victoria, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. She has performed, taught and mentored at summer festivals and string and chamber music workshops across Canada and in the United States. She has acted as concertmaster of Orchestra London, the CBC Chamber Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the Victoria Symphony, as well as leading the Baroque Strings of Vancouver. She has recorded for CBC radio and television, both as soloist and chamber player. Her signature group, “Viveza”, released five internationally successful CDs, and toured throughout Canada, the United States, and Korea. She commissioned Vancouver composer Stephen Chatman to write a work for
violin and cello, “From Pent-up Aching Rivers”, which had its premiere in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall. Since moving to Esquimalt B.C. Ms. Thompson-Robinow has continued performing, giving master classes and workshops, as well as mentoring a select number of talented violinists. As a founding member of the Township Community Arts Council, she presented a series of six house concerts, “Township Classics” at the Wardroom, CFB Esquimalt from 2015-2020. This series is earmarked to raise funds for a Youth Mentorship Program, an innovative program that provides young instrumentalists and singers with opportunities to broaden their musical experience. Ms. Thompson-Robinow’s book, “The Embodied Violinist: Teaching Violin with Passion and Practicality”, is available to order at embodiedviolinist.com. The book presents a distillation of violinistic techniques and musical philosophies which she inherited from her teachers and mentors, focused and refined through her own experience. It will be of value to every teacher who wants to build their teaching on a compelling historical foundation.
Featured Performances
