English Violinist Jackie Hartley has Died, Aged 63

Hartley was the principal second violinist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the first female principal of a London orchestra

Born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, Jackie Hartley was the youngest of three children. Her father was a market gardener, and her mother was a music teacher. Learning violin from a young age, she went on to study with Alberni String Quartet member, Howard Davis.

Hartley attended London’s Royal Academy of Music (RAM) on a scholarship, completing studies in violin, piano, and harpsichord. It was during this time that she created the Hartley Piano Trio.

After graduating from RAM in 1982, she became the first female principal player with a London orchestra upon her appointment in 1984 as principal second violin of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

By the early 1990s, she was performing with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Orchestra. She later served as assistant leader of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

In 1998, she was invited by Sir Simon Rattle to co-lead the UK’s City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where she remained for seven years.

Additionally, Hartley played in musical theater productions and commercial recordings. She led performances of The Lion King, Follies, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera, and recorded soundtracks for films, TV, and pop music — including with Paul McCartney at Abbey Road Studios.

In 2005, she began teaching at RAM and London’s Royal College of Music, and later recorded and performed chamber music throughout the UK. 

“As well as her outstanding musicianship and playing, it is her unfailing humor, humility and kindness that will be remembered, and that sustained her, and all those around her,” wrote her husband in The Guardian. “Jackie was widely loved and admired in the music profession, and by everyone who met her.”

Ms. Hartley passed away from cancer. She is survived by her husband, children, grandchild, and two siblings.

Our condolences to her family, friends, students, and colleagues.