The astonishing success of Esther Abram, star violinist

In an age marked by haste, Esther Abrami has managed to buck the trends of TikTok and Instagram by offering calm and inspired musical antidotes. No one had yet succeeded in such a challenge. turning millions of young internet users constantly connected to social media into classical music with Bach violin scores and Mendelssohn concertos. In 2019, at the age of just 23, this budding violin star, then a Conservatory student, made history by becoming the first classical musician to win the Social Media Superstar category at the Global Awards. The young artist set the internet on fire by streaming seventeen-second tutorials on her YouTube, TikTok and Instagram accounts, showing her playing, talking about her workouts and sharing her inspirations on camera.

Contrary to stereotypes, conveying the image of classical musicians in austere, retro outfits, Esther wore an urban and fiercely sexy look, close to the pop stars of her generation, such as Rosalia or Billie Eilish. The artist of her time, Esther Abrami, built an unexpected bridge between her work as an Internet influencer and her impressive career as a violinist. diploma at the Aix-en-Provence Conservatoire at age 13, licentiate at the Royal College of Music in London. At the age of 21 (2017), master at the Birmingham Conservatoire at the age of 25, his concerts in prestigious halls such as the Royal Albert Hall in London and his awards (first prize at the Golden Classical Music Awards 2017). Today Esther Abrami brilliantly combines all these activities. He has 9 million likes on TikTok, has recorded albums and performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet and then at the Salle Gaveau in Paris. Cinema (Sony Classical), the title of his second and new album is no accident. When he reflects on the origins of his astonishing success, the violinist and composer, originally from Tolonet, a village just outside Aix-en-Provence, imagines a series of cinematic freeze-frames.

Trigger at age 10

The first image that comes to mind is a memory of her at age 3 playing with her maternal grandmother’s violin, surrounded by cats and windows overlooking Mount Saint-Victoire. The second image is a joyful klezmer concert his parents took him to see for his 10th birthday; I asked to go to violin lessons,” he recalls. Cinema is a collection of lush violin and orchestral arrangements, scores from hit movies and TV series. “My goal,” confides the violinist, who just celebrated her twenty-seventh birthday, “has always been to overcome prejudices about classical music. I want to break down these glass walls that separate high culture from folk art.” A staunch feminist, Esther also wants to create a music collection like database that reflects her support for women in music.

During her studies at the conservatory, she says that she did not often meet female composers on her way. So the violinist chose to emphasize in all her records and her first album Esther Abrami, The work of Clara Schumann, the pianist and composer who was long overshadowed by her husband; It’s crazy and shocking when you think about it. So I started researching and discovered Clara Schumann’s sublime scores. If it is recognized today, it still does not have the place it deserves. His new album Cinema includes two recordings by contemporary British composers Anne Dudley and Rachel Portman, each of whom won an Academy Award for Best Picture. Esther Abrams has a special admiration for these two women who have managed to masterfully impose themselves in a man’s world. The second, Rachel Portman, collaborated with the violinist, rearranging the film’s soundtrack for him. chocolate, By Lasse Hallstrom.

“Fashion is an art”

Gifted with 360-degree vision, the violinist is also the star of an Apple podcast titled: Women in Classics (Women in the classics.In each episode, he takes on a notable woman—conductor, composer, musician, or opera singer. This is the case of the famous American soprano Nadine Sierra, who sings in different languages ​​and musical genres, or Ellie Konsta, a violinist based in London and leader of Her Ensemble, the first orchestra composed of women and not. binary tools. Esther Abrami applies this openness to fashion as well. The grace of her figure and her growing popularity led her to work as a model with international fashion photographers. A housemate of Tod’s, whose elegance, know-how and urbane looks she admires, the violinist, who is also an artist, says she has always admired the great couturiers; “If many consider fashion superficial, for me it is art. It’s a true form of self-expression, especially these days. It gives a voice to musicians and women in particular.

cinema, With the Philharmonic Orchestra of the City of Prague conducted by Ben Palmer, Sony Classical, 2023.