• FULL NAME:
  Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson
• A.K.A:
  Vanessa-Mae
• NATIONALITY:
  British
• PARENTAGE:
  mother Chinese, father Thai & her English adopted father
• BORN:
  Singapore, moved to London aged 4
• BIRTHDAY:
  27th October 1978, same as Paganini's 196 years later. She was born in the year of the horse. The horse is a very good sign for the Chinese. It is a symbol of speed and loyalty, both indicative of progress in careers and business as well as personal and familial satisfaction.
• RESIDENCE:
  Kensington, London
• MERCHANDISE:
  P.O.Box 363, Bournemouth BH7 6LA England
• EQUIPMENT:
  a J.B. Guadagnini violin of 1761 (Italy) and a Zeta Jazz Model electric violin (USA)
• MUSIC CONCEPT:
  The Violin Techno-acoustic Fusion
• SUPERSTITION:
  Walks over freshly split water between dressing-room and stage
• MOTTO:
  Life is short, so you better have fun
• HOBBIES:
  Snow skiing, dining out, academic studies, water skiing, and reading in ever changing order of priority
• COLOUR:
  Deep Purple
• FOOD:
  Beluga Caviar. I like almost anything, but chocolate is some thing I really need sometimes
• DRINK:
  Freshly squeezed oranged juice
• ADDICTED TO:
  Music and chocolate
• BOOKS:
  Several by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• FILM:
  The Jungle Book
• ACTOR:
  Humphrey Bogart
• BEST MOVIE:
  The Shining
• BIGGEST TV HERO:
  Winnie the Poe
• COMPOSER:
  Gustav Mahler
• BEST CD:
  A greatest-hits CD of Elvis Presley
• MAN:
  Paganini, an Italian violinist
• WOMAN:
  I can not choose between my mother and my grandma
• NICEST CITY:
  Rio de Janeiro, because of its versatility
• BIGGEST DISLIKE:
  Dishonesty
• MEMORABLE EVENT:
  Performing at my first rock festival and my eighteenth birthday, celebrated with a milk bath in Hong Kong and real snow created specially
• MUSIC COMMENT:
  Violin playing is a physical art with great traditions behind it. At its best, it conveys the qualities of beauty, strength and mystique. It can evoke emotions, create moods and stimulate human reaction. Of course, in the minds of people, the music which I play on the album would hardly categories me as a traditionalist practising an old art form! I have been asked if this is a 'pop' album whether it is a statement about what constitutes new style classical music. I don't believe that there is an answer or even the need for such a question. Playing good music, on the violin has a very high 'feel good' factor. Beethoven and Beatles, Mozart and Michael Jackson, Paganini and Prince - I like them all. I have always known what I like and what I don't. What I like, I want to play. I have no wish to compart-mentalise music. To me , music with it's beauty, strength and mystique is for enjoying and for playing. You only live once and this life, I will play the violin hopefully for most of it. I therefore intend to play just about everything I like on violin and more ... this is the way of the violin player. If I never lived another day, I would say that your faith in 'The Violin Player' will already made it worthwhile !
• QUOTABLE QUOTES :
  'supernatural', 'stunning', 'spectacular', 'superb', 'phenomenally talented', 'she is a true child prodigy. What she has, like Mozart and Mendelssohn, is maturity beyond her years', 'for this - her spirituality - you have to go back to Heifetz, Menuhin and Kreisler' 'Vanessa-Mae is a violinist to transcend labels

I would add an observation for the cynics who did not believe that it is possible to want to or to succeed in sharing my life with both classical and pop. A generous heart has room for many things ~ whether you give orreceive. The joy of sharing music is at least one thing I, who have been fortunate enough to be blessed with access to the violin, can do quite well. Over the years, many mentors and colleagues have shared their knowledge with me to help me enjoy all kinds of music. I hope that I can in turn share my enjoyment of both classical and pop music with everyone around the world.

An unusual ambition and not very traditional maybe. As much as I respect tradition, one of my heroes, Mahler, did say 'Tradition ist Schlampig keit !'