Aisslinn Nosky

Aisslinn Nosky

Aisslinn Nosky. Violinist, born at Nanaimo, BC 11 Jul 1978.

At age three she began studying violin with Vivian Pritchard at a community music school in Nanaimo. She then continued at the Nanaimo Conservatory for ten years with Heilwig von Königslöw, whom she credits with inspiring her to pursue a life in music. At eight, Nosky made her solo debut with the CBC Vancouver Orchestra.

When she was 15, Nosky began studies in Toronto with Lorand Fenyves, later enrolling in the Royal Conservatory of Music's Glenn Gould School. Further studies included both solo and chamber music for several summers at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and chamber music at the Steans Music Institute of the Ravinia Festival as a member of the Metro String Quartet (1999). A decisive influence in her musical development, this quartet was active from1993 to1999 and included Daniel Bard, violin, Max Mandel, viola and Rachel Mercer, cello.

Nosky developed into an artist with diverse musical interests from early to classical, with the occasional foray into indie pop and alternative rock, and at home in varied roles from ensemble member, to leader and soloist. A passion for Baroque performance practice led her to greatly expand her involvement in this area, and she became particularly well-known as a performer of period music.

Nosky co-founded the I FURIOSI Baroque Ensemble (with soprano Gabrielle McLaughlin, violinist Julia Wedman and cellist/gambist Felix Deak), which began producing concerts in 1999, and toured Germany, England, Ireland and the United States. While maintaining a high standard of musical artistry, this innovative group has dared to break the boundaries of traditional concert programming. Examples of 2011 concert titles were My Big Fat Baroque Wedding, and The Good, The Baroque, and The Ugly which featured solo violin works performed by Nosky, including the world premiere of Michael Oesterle's Stand Still (2010), commissioned by Nosky with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. I FURIOSI released its first self-produced CD in 2006, with a second released by Dorian/Sono Luminus in 2008. The group has regularly included guest artists, among them Matthew White, counter-tenor, Laura Pudwell, mezzo soprano, and James Sommerville, French horn.

As co-artistic director of the Eybler Quartet, (formed 2004), Nosky and colleagues Wedman, violist Patrick G. Jordan and cellist Margaret Gay have explored the early string quartet repertoire, particularly focusing on lesser-known composers such as their namesake, Joseph Leopold Eybler. From 2003 to 2005, Nosky was assistant principal second violin in the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra.

In 2005, she joined Tafelmusik as an active ensemble member and soloist. A notable solo appearance was her performance of Mendelssohn's D Minor Violin Concerto on the programme Sizzling Strings (2009) which was reprised at the Orford Festival and at the Klang & Raum early music festival in Germany (both 2010).

In September 2011, still maintaining her involvement in Tafelmusik, Nosky took up the position of concertmaster with the prestigious Handel and Haydn Society in Boston.

Discography

Defiled Is My (Middle) Name. I FURIOSI Baroque Ensemble. 2006. self-produced

Joseph Leopold Eybler String Quartets. The Eybler Quartet. 2006. Analekta AN 2 9914

Crazy. I FURIOSI Baroque Ensemble. 2008. Dorian/Sono Luminus DSL-90802

Backofen and Mozart. The Eybler Quartet with clarinettist Jane Booth. 2010. Analekta AN 2 9949