Gideon Robinson

2nd Violin

Gideon Robinson studied violin with Jaroslav Vanecek at the Royal College of Music, and Emanuel Hurwitz.

Portrait of Gideon Robinson

In 1992 he joined the Philharmonia’s 2nd Violin section and feels privileged to have played with many of the world’s greatest conductors and soloists, including Kurt Sanderling, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Lorin Maazel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Christoph von Dohnányi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Itzak Perlman, Alfred Brendel and Gidon Kremer in some of the finest concert halls such as Carnegie, Concertgebouw, Suntory, and the Musikwerien.

Off the stage Gideon has worked with Philharmonia’s education department since the late 90’s, and has been involved in projects in London, Bedford, Leicester, Canterbury and Basingstoke as part of Philharmonia’s residency programme. He believes community projects greatly benefit people who lack the opportunity to hear live music, let alone meet and work with professional musicians. Gideon has been involved with Hear and Now, a groundbreaking multigenerational project bringing together many groups including young musicians and people living with dementia and their carers for the last twelve years.

Outside music Gideon enjoys cricket, previously as a player of modest ability and now a spectator when time allows. The Philharmonia cricket team regularly competed with other orchestras and teams of freelance musicians on pitches across north London. Although the result was important, the highlight of the day was curry in the pavilion during the lunch interval. 

Gideon also enjoys fine dining, and the itinerant life of a musician has allowed him to pursue an interest in London’s Chinese restaurants and traditional worker’s cafes. A cause of regret is how many of the latter, true ‘home-from-home’ establishments have served a final full English before closing for good during the Covid lockdown.

He also enjoys reading history and recently completed a degree in the subject at Open University, writing essays on trains and coaches to and from work and on tours. Gideon’s interest in the past has developed into a passion for antiques and collectibles, and he can often be found at antiques fairs and car-boot sales buying and (hopefully) selling quirky bits and pieces, and has recently appeared, albeit briefly, on BBC’s Antiques Road Trip.

 

This Chair is currently available for endowment. Endowment opportunities at the Philharmonia offer supporters unique access and insights to our players. Find out more here.