‘You can’t turn around and blame anybody else for what you do up there’

PREVIEW In my new interview with Nicola Benedetti for the BBC Music Magazine August issue she explained how being a violinist prepared her for leadership

If you asked me to pick a leader for the classical music world, I would give you my answer without hesitation. Nicola Benedetti. These days I’d probably even vote for her as Prime Minister. Since her career took off in 2004 with first prize at BBC Young Musician of the Year, she has evolved far beyond being a performer into the roles of educator (Benedetti Foundation), artistic leader (Festival Director of Edinburgh Festival), campaigner (whether for musicians touring, UNICEF or freelancers) and media figurehead, giving inspiring and important interviews about classical music and the importance of the arts. Belying the Daily Mail’s obsession with her, she is one of the most intellectually rigorous and articulate classical musicians, without ever dumbing or talking down, talking with a level of nuance that most politicians and campaigners could learn from. And she doesn’t merely talk the talk or signal virtue – through her foundation and advocacy, she is making very real change.

I interviewed her for the BBC Music Magazine August issue, which is out now. I’ll leave you to buy your own copy, but to whet your appetite, here are a few of her quotes…

BBC Music Magazine August 2025 issue

On excellence

‘There can be excellence in how you play Twinkle, twinkle, little star; how you stand with your instrument; your stage presence before and after you play something incredibly simple; how you listen to those around you or watch a conductor. There can be excellence at every single level of attainment. I’m told, by those involved in education and cultural language, not to use that word so often. I think that’s a misinterpretation of a higher meaning of the word and its aspirational quality.’

On teaching styles

‘You have all these formal education centres intended to teach people to play instruments to a very high level, but then that teaching style is somehow meant to apply to a classroom of 40 kids, most of whom are not passionate about music but would like to have a good time. So, you take a step back and go, “Okay, there are improvements to be made and unintended consequences of people trying to do good work.” And I’m sure the same will be true for the Benedetti Foundation. In ten years’ time, I'll probably look back and think, “I meant to do this, but this was actually the consequence.”’

On the importance of chaos

‘We see previously trodden paths, systems, processes and formats around us. This is how things are done because this is how things were always done. We forget that somebody, at some point a person, and then a group of people, and then an organisation decided that this is how things are done. There’s a saturation of institutions. There’s not much chaos, and with a lack of chaos, it can be hard to believe that you can form a new way of doing something that is additive and creative. We all have to find our own way of making sense of our place in an environment that is formal, some aspects of which suit us, but some of which don’t.’

On historic performance practice

‘In history, as now, there have been a huge variety in styles of interpretation. Things were more localised and interpretations were taught person to person. To imagine that we can decipher written descriptions with certainty? You only have to sit next to a composer to see their frustration in trying to put down what they mean by these notes scribbled in this particular way. You want to bring the greatest innovations that have evolved over time, together with what you discover yourself, in interpretations that inspire energy, ferocity and vigour. The end goal must always be alive and inconclusive something that reacts and jumps.’

On what playing violin concertos teaches about leadership

‘There’s nothing more exposing and hard - even though I’ve done it since I was four - than playing a violin concerto. There’s very little that comes close to that in terms of focus, concentration, challenge, responsibility and complete ownership. You can’t turn around and blame anybody else for what you do up there.’