Cultural life, the radio four podcast, she reveals her formative influences and experiences, and how her passion for playing was there from the start. I knew very young there was no question i wanted to play the violin. There was no question that that was what i must do and had to do and wanted to do. Have you played here much, nicky . They chuckle nicola benedetti, welcome to this cultural life. Thank you so much for having me. Its an absolute pleasure. You were born and brought up in north ayrshire. What are your earliest musical memories at home . What memories do you have of music being played at home . The bee gees and abba. Later on, good dose of shania twain. That was all my dads taste. My mum definitely had a kenny g record. Um. She laughs saxophone . Theyll kill me for saying all of this quite like this, but its the truth both of your parents were born in italy, werent they . Yes. Was it an italian household culturally growing up . Its a good question. I would say both parents
But its the truth both of your parents were born in italy, werent they . Yes. Was it an italian household culturally growing up . Its a good question. I would say both parents assimilated very concretely and quite deliberately with scottishness and scottish culture, but they also came over very young. My mum was three years old. An italian speaking three year old with an italian mother and scottish father. Um. Came over to scotland and, er. Was sort of banned from speaking italian quite quickly. It was considered to be detrimental to her education and all sorts of things. We know better now. So my mum lost most of her italian, um. And it was a very scottish upbringing from that moment forward. And my dad, he came over when he was kind of ten or ii. Came over without his parents. Had a rough time, you know, adjusting to such a different culture. It was a good, healthy mix. But as far as mealtimes go and food, we were italian all the way. You mentioned you started playing the violin at t
and play scottish traditional music. and of course he left school at the age of 1a and immediately started working on farms, and he was the youngest of 13. my mother, on the other hand, she could read music, but she didn t have a very good ear, so in a way it was the opposite. and i remember when she told the story whereby she was asked to play in the village, or if she would help out for the village church and play the organ there, because she was really kind of the only one who could maybe play a few hymns. and she said, oh, no, i really don t want to be doing this i m far too busy, and so on. and. but they pleaded with her and she said, well, i lljust do one sunday , and 36 years later she was still there. i went to a primary school that had 36 pupils in the entire school and two teachers, so it was a tiny, tiny country school, but every friday a music teacher would come in and we would be given a general music lesson. so by the time we left primary school at the age
most households had a piano, an upright piano, and.and we were no exception, and so he would just sit down and play scottish traditional music. and of course, he left school at the age of 1a, and immediately started working on farms and he was the youngest of 13, so, you know, you can imagine the sort of scenario, and so he was always working. my mother, on the other hand, she could read music, but she didn t have a very good ear, so, in a way, it was the opposite. and i remember when she told the story whereby she was asked to play in the village, or if she would help out for the village church and play the organ there, because she was really, kind of, the only one who could maybe play a few hymns. and she said, oh, no, i really don t want to be doing this i m far too busy , and so on. and. but they pleaded with her and she said, well, i lljust do one sunday , and 36 years later she was still there. i went to a primary school that had 36 pupils in the entire school and
a fiery field hearing taking place just a block away from progress da alvin bragg s office with absolutely harrowing testimony from new york city crime victims and their families. victims like joseph borgen a jewish man who was brazenly beaten by four men in broaddaylight. his attackers were only give an six-month plea deal. he only punched my son once. . perhaps some of the most dramatic moments came when madeline whose son was brutally stabbed to death nine times for significantly lowering the charges against two of her son s alleged attackers. i was totally disrespected. me, my family, my grand children, we were treated like garbage. like garbage. while republicans say the hearing was intended to highlight just how progressive policies are making america less safe, democrats dismissed it as political payback for bragg s indictment of former president donald trump. they insist the big apple is indeed safe. the chairman says this hearing is about violent crime in m