Sub-principal Violin Barbara Paterson
When did you join the RSNO?
I joined the RSNO in January 1986.
Where are you from?
I am from Cupar in Fife.
Where did you study?
I started playing the violin because we got free lessons at school. I attended the junior department of the RSAMD for 3 years with Sam Bor, then leader of the SNO, then went there as a full time student studying with Peter Mountain. After that I spent a post-grad year with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music in London.
What do you enjoy most about being in the RSNO?
I enjoy working with world-class musicians, playing the 19th and 20th century repertoire, and I love the camaraderie you get in an orchestra.
Tell us your favourite RSNO story/memory so far.
I’ll never forget recording all the Richard Strauss tone poems and orchestral songs with Neeme Järvi and Felicity Lott in the Caird Hall. Everything was recorded in long takes, and the sense of real music-making in that great acoustic was wonderful.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not playing with the Orchestra?
I love gardening and try to grow as much fruit and veg as possible.
