Nicola Benedetti

Monday, 28 April 2025 - Keynote Arts Festivals Summit 2025

Nicola Benedetti is the Festival Director for the Edinburgh International Festival. She took up the position in October 2022 having previously had a long-standing relationship with the Festival as a performer, including a residency in 2021. Nicola is both the first Scottish and the first female Festival Director since the Festival began in 1947. 

On taking up the role of Festival Director, Nicola brought with her a new creative vision for the organisation: to offer the deepest possible experience of the highest quality of art to the broadest possible audience. Her unwavering commitment to realising this vision can be seen across all areas of the Festival’s operation from the artistic programme to its year-round work with young people, schools and communities in Edinburgh and beyond.   

Nicola will talk about her experience of taking on the role of Festival Director and how her perspective as a performing artist has shaped her approach to curation, collaboration and connection. She will discuss the relationship between the Festival and the city and reflect on the importance of holding in balance a deep respect for the past whilst providing a fertile ground for daring innovation, risk and unbridled creativity.  

 
Biography 
Nicola is one of the most influential classical artists of today, performing internationally as a violinist. Born in the Scottish town of Irvine, of Italian heritage, Nicola began violin lessons at the age of four, studied at Yehudi Menuhin School and has since toured with some of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors. 

She has won GRAMMY and Brit Awards and was named BBC Music Magazine’s 2021 ‘Personality of the Year,’ awarded in part for her online support of musicians during the pandemic, a reflection of her passionate work as an ambassador for music education. 

In December 2020, Nicola formed the Benedetti Baroque Orchestra and regularly champions the commissioning of new works, including the recent violin concertos by Mark Simpson and Wynton Marsalis (which won a GRAMMY in 2020). Nicola was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2017, the youngest ever recipient, and has received nine honorary degrees to date. 

Nicola formalised her commitment to music education in 2019 when she established The Benedetti Foundation. Since its launch, the Foundation has worked with over 29,000 participants, aged 2 to 92, from 103 countries through its in-person workshops and online sessions for young people, students, teachers and adults. The Foundation unites those who believe that music is integral to a great education and demonstrates teaching through innovative and creative musical experiences accessible to all. 

Nicola was appointed a CBE in 2019, awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music (2017), and an MBE in 2013. In addition, Nicola holds the positions of Vice President (National Children’s Orchestras), Big Sister (Sistema Scotland), Patron (National Youth Orchestras of Scotland’s Junior Orchestra, Music in Secondary Schools Trust and Junior Conservatoire at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).