Who is Ben you ask? …
If you’re reading this paragraph, then you’re probably wondering “Who is Ben?” First off, Ben is me! 🙂 I’ve been an avid fan of Vanessa-Mae since 1996. She is such an inspiration to me that I decided to switch from viola to violin a few years later. Now I own 2 very nice violins: one being an old German trade fiddle built in the 1920’s and a new violin that’s almost a year old made by a very promising chinese luthier. The latter is my main violin and I absolutely adore it. You can even get a similar one yourself by visiting Fiddlershop. The model I have is the ‘Holstein Plowden’.
Why am I doing this?
I initially had no intention of building an entire website devoted to Vanessa-Mae. However, at this time, there seems to be nowhere on the web that regularly updates with Vanessa-Mae related news. This is not too surprising as Vanessa gives 2-3 concerts per year. That is a far cry from the constant touring she did back in the mid-to-late 90’s. At first, I thought that her fame was waning, but that is not the case if my channel is any indication. One of Vanessa-Mae videos I have on my channel has recently hit 16 million views in the 9 1/2 years it’s been available on Youtube:
To this day, it seems people are still discovering (and sometimes rediscovering) Vanessa-Mae. There are other violinists who have chosen a similar career path, like Lindsay Sterling. Still, Vanessa-Mae has the distinction of being the first to become famous on a global scale.
Consequently, I thought it would be a good idea to be an author of a blog that will be periodically updated with news of interest to Vanessa-Mae fans. All feedback is greatly appreciated.
One last word …
Lastly, if this inspires you to learn the violin, then do it! It’s never too late to start. There are so many exciting ways you can teach yourself like visiting YouTube channels and other blogs. You do not need to learn the violin so you can turn professional or because you need to play it for others. The biggest joy is learning for yourself. 🙂
~Ben, owner of vanessamae.net
9/1/16