Scottish violist Fiona Winning was until 2014 Principal Viola of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and before that the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. During her years in London she was a regular guest principal of the Philharmonia and London Philharmonic Orchestras, including four seasons at Glyndebourne Opera with the LPO. As principal she has performed under the batons of eminent conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Vasily Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski, Yannick Neset-Seguin and Ilan Volkov. She is also a regular guest principal viola of the Aurora Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. A passionate advocate of contemporary music she was a founding member of Ensemble Amorpha, and has been a regular guest principal of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Highlights with the BCMG include one of Pierre Boulez’s last conducting engagements (Stravinsky Dumbarton Oaks) and performances of George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill at the Wigmore Hall.”Fiona Winning’s central viola solo was quite beautifully played” (Erica Jeal, the Guardian). She is a regular visitor to the South Bank Centre as guest principal with the London Sinfonietta, and has also appeared with them at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, BBC Proms, and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. She is also a regular guest with the Red Note Ensemble (Scotland), most recently in a nationwide tour of George Crumb’s epic electronic quartet Black Angels.
For seven years she was a member of the Scottish Ensemble with whom she performed at the Wigmore Hall, BBC Proms, and at the Edinburgh International, Aldeburgh and City of London Festivals, and broadcast regularly on Radio 3. As a chamber musician she has been a regular visitor to the Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room, and has performed at festivals such as Wye Valley, Corbridge. Mendelssohn on Mull and Bargemusic (New York City). She was a member of the Edinburgh String Quartet from 2014-2016.
Fiona studied at the Juilliard School in New York where she lived and worked for 6 years. When not playing the viola she enjoys climbing mountains and recently climbed 6000m peaks in the Bolivian Andes and the Himalayas.
Fiona plays on an Antonio Gragnani viola from 1780 for which she gratefully acknowledges support from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Loan Fund for Musical Instruments. She lives near Loch Lomond with her husband and two sons.
