Sheila Nelson

Sheila Mary Nelson (5 March 1936 – 16 November 2020)[1] was an English musician, music educator, writer and composer. She had played with the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Menuhin Festival Orchestra but was best known as a violin and viola teacher. She is usually referred to as Sheila Nelson but appears in her published works as Sheila M. Nelson.

For the politician, see Sheila Nelson (politician).

Sheila Nelson
Nelson at her 70th birthday party, London, March 2006
Born
Sheila Mary Nelson

(1936-03-05)5 March 1936
Manchester, England
Died16 November 2020(2020-11-16) (aged 84)
Education
Occupations
  • Violin and viola teacher
  • Composer
  • Writer
  • Academic teacher
  • Violinist
  • Violist

Biography

Nelson studied at the Royal College of Music and had a B.Mus degree from London University. She also studied at the University of Birmingham and in Denmark.[2] In 1976 she went to the United States on a Churchill Fellowship to study with the eminent string pedagogue Paul Rolland,[3] and in the 1980s directed an innovative group-teaching project[4] in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Tower Hamlets Project taught strings and piano to whole school classes in a deprived area of London, and was featured in a six-part TV documentary series, Beginners Please.[3]

Nelson was co-author of the Essential String Method series and author/composer of many other music instruction and repertoire books, published by Boosey & Hawkes.[5] She was an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon RAM), a distinction limited to 300 musicians.[6]

Nelson died aged 84 on 16 November 2020 having lived with Alzheimer's disease in her final years.[3][7]

Publications

Nelson was a prolific writer and composer.[8] Selected works include:

  • Christmas Tunes for strings
  • Technitunes for individual strings or ensemble
  • Octotunes for individual strings or ensemble
  • Quartet Club for string quartet
  • Stringsongs for violin/viola and piano
  • The Violin and Viola: History, Structure, Techniques. 1972 book republished 2003[9]

References
  1. "Sheila Nelson: Biography". Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  2. "The Contributors". British Journal of Music Education. 2 (1): 1. 1985. doi:10.1017/S0265051700004551. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  3. "Sheila M Nelson (1936 – 2020)". European String Teachers Association. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  4. Nelson, Sheila M (1985). "The Tower Hamlets Project". British Journal of Music Education. 2: 69–93. doi:10.1017/S0265051700004617. S2CID 145775470. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  5. "Sheila Nelson: Featured Composer at Boosey.com Music Shop". Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  6. "Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music". RAM. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  7. Todes, Ariane (27 November 2020). "Thank you, Sheila Nelson". Elbow Music. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  8. "Sheila Nelson – Products – Sheet Music". Boosey & Hawkes. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  9. Nelson, Sheila (1972). The Violin and Viola: History, Structure, Techniques. Ernest Benn, London. p. 304. ISBN 0-486-42853-2.
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