B i o g r a p h y
Sought after as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral leader, Savitri has recently made her debut as soloist with the Concerto Budapest and Qatar Philharmonic Orchestras. Currently Associate Concertmaster of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, she also appears regularly as concertmaster with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Savitri performs as part of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, currently Associate Artists at London’s Wigmore Hall.
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Recent highlights include Savitri’s debut as soloist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and a CD recording with the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective for Chandos of music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Over the last few years Savitri has collaborated with the renowned sarod players Amaan Ali and Ayaan Ali Bangash at The Times Swarsangam Music Festival in Bangalore, India, led a British Council chamber project in Qatar, given a series of recitals in China, and worked closely with a youth orchestra, within their community in Balanyá, Guatamala. In 2019 she undertook a residency at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival performing the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas with pianist Richard Uttley.
A very active chamber musician, Savitri is regularly invited to festivals including IMS Prussia Cove and Krzyzowa Music in Poland, and has performed in venues including Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, and Laeiszhalle Hamburg. She has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, and Deutschlandfunk Kultur. She has also performed for many years as part of the Grier Trio. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, English Chamber, London Mozart Players, Welsh National Opera, among many others. She has recently been invited as guest concertmaster/director with Kammerakademie Potsdam and Chineke! Strings.
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Savitri studied at Oxford University, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and the Universität der Künste Berlin with David Takeno and Nora Chastain. She was represented by the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) between 2015 and 2021. After several years in Berlin, she is now based in Munich & Paris.
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Savitri plays on a Matteo Goffriller violin on generous loan from the Aidan Woodcock Charitable Trust.
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"Grier's tone was sweet and elegant, and surprisingly mellow. She was wonderfully technically assured. She sang Elgar's line effortlessly but brought welcome flashes of temperament…[and] gave us a thoughtful, inward account of the concerto. Throughout she seemed at ease with the concerto's style so that its constant changes of metre and harmony flowed naturally and were never restless."
Planet Hugill / St John’s Smith Square - Elgar Concerto
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"...a formidable violinist of full tone and strong personality."
Arcana - Ben Hogwood / Wigmore Hall
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"...the highlight of the evening: an account of Chausson’s Poème for violin and orchestra, in which Savitri Grier was the wonderfully assured and lyrically poised soloist."
The Guardian / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Norfolk & Norwich Festival
"When Savitri Grier performed the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Sinfonia of Birmingham under Michael Seal, it was her playing that took the spotlight - a deep, eloquent tone, making every line sing, and all delivered with remarkable poise and flair."
Birmingham Post / Birmingham Sinfonia - Sibelius Concerto