VC Artist Jennifer Pike Withdraws from Concert Appearance Due to Injury

Pike has a micro-fracture in her wrist and will be replaced by the Swedish violinist Ava Bahari in an upcoming performance

British-Polish violinist and VC Artist Jennifer Pike has withdrawn from a planned solo appearance with the BBC Scottish Symphony after she sustained a micro-fracture to one of her wrists. Pike was scheduled to perform the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and she will be replaced by the Swedish violinist Ava Bahari.

This is not the first instance of the injury: in May 2024, Pike withdrew from an appearance at the 30th anniversary of the English Haydn Festival.

A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and the University of Oxford, Pike is a former prizewinner at the Menuhin Competition. In 2002, she was awarded Britain's coveted BBC Musician of the Year accolade, at the age of 12.

Her recent debuts include solo engagements with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Zürcher Kammerorchester, and all the BBC and major orchestras across the UK.

Pike is currently an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and Foundation for Children and the Arts and patron of the Lord Mayor’s City Music Foundation. In 2020, she was awarded an MBE for services to classical music. She plays on a Matteo Goffriller violin of 1708.

"We regret to announce that Jennifer Pike is no longer able to perform at Perth Concert Hall on 21 February 2025, as she recovers from a micro-fracture on one of her wrists," the BBC Scottish Symphony wrote in a statement. "We wish Jennifer a swift recovery and are very grateful to Ava Bahari for stepping in to perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto."