Annamaria McCool
Administrator / Violinist • English Philharmonic Orchestra
Annamaria is passionate about musicianship and about creating a sustainable profession for musicians. “There are fantastic musicians pouring out of music conservatories every year, who are never heard unless we create events where they can play. They are brilliant musicians and need nurturing and an opportunity to play excellent music and to earn a living. I want to create this for them and above all, to bring to our audience, beautiful music in beautiful places.”
Annamaria McCool as a child first heard the violin when the eminent violinist, Hugh Bean, visited her school to play in a concert. She was entranced and knew immediately that she wanted to play the violin. She was allowed to try the violin of a fellow pupil at school and together with her teachers, discovered that she could play almost immediately. However, her parents took some persuading. For some time she sat listening in violin lessons without an instrument, but eventually, they agreed to buy her a violin, pay for lessons and support her in the pursuit of a musical career.
After school she was accepted on a music course at Huddersfield Music College (now Huddersfield University) after which she auditioned for a place at The Royal Academy of Music in London and became a pupil of Trevor Williams. It was here that she met and befriended fellow students, Simon Rattle and Annie Lennox.
Even as a student she was advised to take on freelance orchestral dates in order to acquire orchestral experience and as a result she soon found herself playing regularly in Belfast with the Ulster Orchestra and in Birmingham with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
On leaving the Academy, she auditioned and was offered several posts, eventually deciding to take a position in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and move to Glasgow where she married.
After working with the BBC Scottish for about five years and after the birth of her second child, she resigned and become a freelance player. She was still able to take on some freelance work with the BBC but now she had the opportunity of working with The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The Scottish Baroque Ensemble and Scottish Opera and gained invaluable experience as well as increasing her repertoire. This she did for a number of years.
Later, she heard of a vacancy in the Northern Sinfonia, (based in Newcastle upon Tyne). She auditioned and was offered a full-time position which she accepted and held for 18 years, touring all over the world.
Recently, she graduated from Durham University Business School with an MA in Entrepreneurship. She has established herself, over the last decade, as a major music entrepreneur in the north, co-founding AM Live Music (www.amlivemusic.com) (whose full-scale concerts feature its own English Philharmonic Orchestra, of which, she is the Manager and her partner, David Haslam, the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor). The company has provided a range of music from jazz to classical, bollywood and others, in all kinds of venues through out the north of England, and for very different types of clients - from large corporations to intimate weddings. Annamaria is devoted to providing and playing professional music of excellence and in being imaginative in her approach so that hopefully the client is delighted by the whole musical experience.