Kerenza Peacock

Violinist Kerenza Peacock is a strikingly versatile figure whose activities extend from standard classical orchestral and chamber repertory to contemporary music, various strands of pop, musical theater, and even bluegrass. She has made several recordings of music by composer Oliver Davis.
Peacock was born on September 24, 1979, in Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk. The name Kerenza means “love and affection” in the Cornish language. She took up the violin at age three, and at ten, she entered the Junior Department at the Royal Academy of Music in London while attending Ipswich High School. For two years, Peacock was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. She entered the Royal Academy for full-time studies in 1998, and during her first week at the school, she and three friends formed the Pavao Quartet, which went on to appear widely at top concert halls across the U.K., touring as far afield as Poland, Syria, and China. The group landed a two-year appointment as Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellows at the Royal Academy following the players’ graduation. With the Pavao Quartet, Peacock made her recording debut in 2006 with the album Someone to Watch Over Me; the album was praised by George Gershwin’s nephew for its arrangements of Gershwin’s music.
Meanwhile, Peacock embarked on a solo career notable for its diversity of repertory. She performed and recorded Vivaldi's Four Seasons violin concertos and appeared as a soloist with the Trafalgar Sinfonia. In 2015, she released her debut album, Flight, featuring concertos written for her by contemporary composer Oliver Davis. Peacock has appeared on a large variety of pop albums by artists ranging from Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand to Lady Gaga (Born This Way) and Pink, and she was part of the orchestra for various musicals staged in London’s West End theater district. After the Pavao Quartet reduced its activities in the early 2010s, Peacock’s range of activities became still more varied. Moving to Los Angeles, she also traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to study bluegrass fiddling, and she joined the bluegrass band The Coal Porters, contributing not only as a fiddler but as a songwriter. She recorded several more albums of Davis’ music for the Signum Classics label, including Air (2022). By that time, Peacock’s list of recording credits was some 90 albums long. ~ James Manheim