Biography

Edinburgh-born Alexa Beattie grew up in North Berwick and was a pupil at St Mary’s Music School. She graduated from the School with the Isobel Dunlop Prize for Service and the Leonard Friedman Chamber Music Prize, signalling a bright future for herself as a violist.

Throughout her further musical education, Alexa won a number of scholarships in recognition of her unique talent. In 2007 she won a place on the San Francisco Conservatory’s Artist’s Certification in Chamber Music programme, as one of only three successful applicants. The collaborative nature of the programme means that Alexa will perform regularly with members of the faculty, who already rate her very highly as an engaging and intelligent performer. Whilst in San Francisco, Alexa has championed contemporary Scottish music, for which she has been awarded a scholarship by the St Andrew’s Society of Scotland in Washington D.C. in recognition of her efforts.

Alexa’s ultimate ambition is to perform chamber music internationally at the highest professional level within ensemble contexts and as a solo performer. Her interests range from classical repertoire to contemporary works. One of her long-term projects is to record contemporary Scottish viola repertoire. Alexa is in the final stage of her studies and is set to make her mark on the international stage as a thoughtful, sensitive and dedicated musician.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award is helping to finance Alexa’s studies at the San Francisco Conservatory.

Since the Award

Alexa writes, “The Dewar Award came at the perfect time. The unique Chamber Music Programme in San Francisco has been extremely powerful in my development as a performer. I believe myself to be a significantly different and infinitely stronger player than when I began the programme. The previous year has been a tremendous confidence boost. My ability to trust myself on stage is far greater. I also believe that the American approach to string playing technique has been a large part of this development.”

After successfully obtaining the Artist’s Certificate in Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory, Alexa was offered the Chamber Music Assistantship at the Conservatory for 2009.