Violinist, conductor and composer, is a musical shape-shifter, French-Irish artist. Jazz, contemporary creation, symphonic repertoire and the influence of traditional music of Ireland all meet in her playing, her writing and her work on the podium. The result is an artist equally at home leading a symphony orchestra, improvising with a jazz trio or premiering new creation.
She trained as a classical violonist at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris and as a jazz one with French artist Didier Lockwood. As a violinist and bandleader she has released three albums: O’Ceol, steeped in Irish tradition; Contrebande (Crescendo, 2018); and Maelström (Fo Feo Productions), on which her quartet meets a full orchestra. Her concert works for violin, jazz trio and orchestra include Trois Reflets, premiered with the Orchestre National de Bretagne in 2022, and Faubourg 23, premiered in the UK by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in 2023. Her last piece is a string quartet, Quasar, written for Fidelio Quartet.
As a conductor, Fiona works across Europe with a repertoire that runs from Debussy and Ravel to Steve Reich and Fausto Romitelli. She has appeared with the BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Ulster Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Bretagne, the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève. Festivals she has performed at include the Berlioz Festival, Jazz in Marciac, the Saint-Denis Festival and the Roma Europa. She founded the French Ensemble Miroirs Etendus in 2017 of which she is the musical director. Miroirs Etendus focuses on contemporary works, its projects include a live recording of Romitelli’s An Index of Metals and Paris Noir with Christophe Chassol at Radio France’s Présences festival.
Her fluency in jazz, classical and traditional idioms makes her a natural partner for projects in which the orchestra meets other musical worlds. She has collaborated with artists including Gregory Porter, Ana Moura, Biréli Lagrène, António Zambujo, Seckou Keita, Abel Selaocoe, Rebeka Warrior and Christophe Chassol.
Her upcoming seasons feature a recording of Irish composer Michael Gallen’s new piece together with the Ulster Orchestra, a record release of choir pieces composed for Vimala Pons’ last theater performance Honda Romance, a project with guitarist Antoine Boyer for violin, guitar and string orchestra and several commissions.