Semester Control Work In Reading (the 2^nd semester)

The 7^th Form

Vanessa-Mae

Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore in 1978. She moved to England with her mother when she was four. Vanessa was already having piano lessons when she started playing the violin as well.

At the age of eight Vanessa went to Beijing in China to study the violin. The course takes normal students three years to complete, but Vanessa finished it in six months. While she was studying in Beijing, she visited some interesting places like the Great Wall of China and the Emperor’s Palace. She remembers that the Chinese she met were very surprised that she couldn’t speak a word Chinese.

Vanessa began performing when she was ten years old, and at 11 she entered the Royal Academy of Music. While she was studying there she played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and went on tour with the London Mozart Players. She was also the youngest person to record violin music by composers such as Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.

In 1995, Vanessa recorded an album called The Violin Player. This was not a classical album, but mixture of pop, jazz and techno. It was an unusual album because it was the first time a classical musician mixed music in this way. In the same year Vanessa gave a famous concert in Time Square, New York. At the end of the concert she was so excited that she jumped onto a yellow cab. She played her last song while she was standing on the roof of the cab. The next day her picture was in all the newspapers – Vanessa-Mae was famous.

Today Vanessa-Mae continues to mix different styles of music, including classical and pop as well as sounds from Africa and India. She composes her own music. Some people don’t like her music because it isn’t classical but other people are happy because she makes violin music popular. What do you think?

I.                   Put the events into the correct order. Vanessa –Mae:

a)      saw the Great Wall of China.

b)      made  The Violin Player.

c)      started at the Royal Academy of Music.

d)     began to learn the violin.

e)      moved to England.

f)       toured with the London Mozart Players.

II.                Answer the questions

1.      How old was Vanessa-Mae when she went to Beijing?

2.      Why were the Chinese surprised when they met her?

3.      Where did Vanessa-Mae end a concert on top of a taxi?

4.      What sort of music does she play today?