Mari Poll

Estonian violinist Mari Poll has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across Europe and America. In 2012, she made her recording debut with EMI Classics in the EMI Digital Debut series. In the same year she performed Ligeti's violin concerto twice with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra and later with the RCM Philharmonic Orchestra. She is an inaugural prize winner of the City Music Foundation 2013 and has appeared on the BBC Radio 3 In Tune programme. Her second CD, recorded with her brother Mihkel Poll, was released in summer 2017 and features works by 20th and 21st century composers such as George Enescu, Francis Poulenc, Arnold Schönberg and Erkki-Sven Tüür.

Mari is currently first concertmaster of the Estonian National Opera Orchestra and teaches at the Estonian Academy of Theatre and Music. From 2015 to 2019 she was the second concertmaster of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and she has been invited to lead and co-lead orchestras such as the Stockholm Philharmonic, Norrbotten NEO contemporary ensemble, Bodo Sinfonietta, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra.

Mari Poll has won many prizes at international competitions, including the third prize at the Vibrarte International Violin Competition in France and first prize at the Derek Butler London Prize. In 2012/13 she held the Constant and Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music and in the same year was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal – presented to her by HRH the Prince of Wales – of the Royal College of Music. Mari is a graduate of the Royal College of Music in London, where she studied with Jan Repko and later Radu Blidar. She also holds a Soloist Diploma from the Norwegian Academy of Music, where she studied with Peter Herresthal. She has given masterclasses at the Royal College of Music and has worked as an assistant to Jan Repko and Peter Herresthal.

Mari Poll currently plays a 1723 Nicolaus Gagliano violin, kindly loaned to her by Aare Kaarma and the Estonian Foundation of Musical Instruments.