Stradivarious

Folk and Country Dance Music for Any Occasion

Poppy Weatherall

Originally from Manchester, Poppy began playing the violin when she was 6 years old, encouraged to take up the instrument by her father who sang in the Lancashire harmony group 'Jolly Jack'. Initially, she studied Suzuki Violin Method and then went on to study with then Halle Orchestra member Morris Stemp before moving to Birmingham in 2005 to study with Simon Smith at Birmingham Conservatoire. Having completed her study for a bachelor's degree in performance violin in 2009, Poppy remains at Birmingham Conservatoire to complete her post-graduate study.

Over the past couple of years, Poppy has played regularly with Stradivarious for English and Scottish dancing events. She has appeared at Lichfield and Whitby Folk Festivals and at Cecil Sharp House. She plays in the band for the Appalachian dance group 'Leap to your feet' and, late in 2009, she was interviewed and performed on local radio.

As a classical soloist, Poppy has performed a wide range of repertoire including Mozart’s Concerto in A Major (first movement), Kurtag’s Signs Games and Messages and a wide selection of movements from Bach’s unaccompanied Partitas. Poppy is also a keen orchestral player and has performed at many prestigious venues including the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Royal Festival Hall in London and the new Birmingham Town Hall. She has lead both the Halle Youth Orchestra (on their South of France tour) and Bury Youth Orchestra. She is also the regular principal second violinist in Northern Baroque Orchestra where she plays the second violin solo parts in the Concerto Grossos.