Nirvana Che-Lai
Violin - Georg Karl Klotz 'Scotchmer' with Pecatte bow in case
Nirvana is 14 years old, and has been learning the violin since the age of 6. She is a Music Scholar at Eltham College in London, and also studies at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music. Having previously trained with Emanuela Buta, she currently learns with Rodney Friend. She was awarded the Fritz Kreisler Cup for her violin recital performances at the Coulsdon & Purley Festival in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025 and the Founder's Cup in 2023 for Solo String performance; she was awarded a solo recital opportunity in London following her win in 2025. In addition, Nirvana won the Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year Competition in March 2025 at just 14 years old, and will perform a concerto with the Lydian Orchestra in December 2025 as a result. She was the youngest ever winner of Eltham College's Concerto Competition in 2024, and performed Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending at Blackheath Halls with the school's Symphony Orchestra; she also recorded this piece in a version for violin and organ. She has been a finalist in the Dvarionas Violin Competition in Lithuania and the Chicago International Violin Competition, and performed as a soloist at the Royal Albert Hall alongside the All Souls Orchestra in their annual flagship concert, Prom Praise, in May 2024. She currently plays an 18th Century Klotz violin alongside a Peccatte bow, both on loan to her from the Cherubim Music Trust, for whom she performed two solo recitals in London in early 2025.