Rodney Friend

{{Short description|English violinist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

Rodney Friend MBE (born in Bradford, 1939) is an English violinist.

Born in Bradford, Friend's father was a local tailor. At the age of 12 he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music after Sir Reginald Thatcher, the then principal of the R.A.M, heard Friend perform for the first time.{{cite web|url=http://bradfordjewish.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_2749.jpg|date=2 November 2012|title=Image: IMG_2749.jpg, (1936 × 2592 px)|website=Bradfordjewish.org.uk|accessdate=1 September 2015}} Friend also studied subsequently at the Royal Manchester College of Music.

At the Royal Academy of Music, Friend studied under the tutelage of Frederick Grinke.{{cite web|url=http://www.rodneyfriend.co.uk/5decades.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304022056/http://www.rodneyfriend.co.uk/5decades.htm |archive-date=2012-03-04 |url-status=dead |title=Rodney Friend |accessdate=1 September 2015}} He later studied with Endre Wolf, Menuhin and Szeryng.

In 1964 Friend became the youngest ever leader/concertmaster of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, working closely with Bernard Haitink, Barenboim, Solti and Giulini. In 1975, he was invited by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to be their Concertmaster, playing concerts and recording worldwide with Bernstein, Boulez and Mehta.{{cite web |url=http://www.stringscambridge.com/facultyi.htm |title=Faculty I - Cambridge International String Academy 2013 |accessdate=2013-08-31 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610115807/http://www.stringscambridge.com/facultyi.htm |archivedate=2013-06-10 }}

In 1979, he was a soloist with the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. {{Cite web |title=Notable Events and Performers |url=https://naumburgconcerts.org/notable-events-and-performers |access-date=2025-03-18 |website=Naumburg Orchestral Concerts |language=en-US}}

In 1991 he formed the Solomon Trio with whom he toured Europe extensively.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/solomon-trio-mn0001646655/discography |title=Solomon Trio | Discography | AllMusic |website=AllMusic|accessdate=1 September 2015}}

In 2008 the first two volumes of his books The Orchestral Violinist were published.{{cite web|url=http://www.boosey.com/pages/teaching/news/further_info.asp?newsid=11221 |title=Rodney Friend Offers Advice to the Young Orchestral Violinist |website=Boosey.com|accessdate=1 September 2015}}

Friend is at present an artistic director at Cambridge International String Academy at Trinity College, Cambridge.{{cite web|url=http://www.stringscambridge.com/ |title=Cambridge International String Academy 2015 |publisher=stringscambridge.com|accessdate=1 September 2015}} He plays a violin made by Giuseppe Guarneri dated 1696.{{cite web |url=http://www.stringscambridge.com/facultyi.htm |title=Cambridge International String Academy 2013 - Faculty I |work=stringscambridge.com |year=2013 |accessdate=31 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610115807/http://www.stringscambridge.com/facultyi.htm |archivedate=10 June 2013 }}

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to music.{{London Gazette|issue=61092|supp=y|page=N19|date=31 December 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/391413/New_Year_Honours_List_2015.pdf |title= 2015 New Year Honours List |website=Gov.uk|accessdate=1 September 2015}}

In 2019, he published a workbook, The Violin in 5ths — Developing Intonation and Sound, in which he detailed a teaching method regarding intonation and sound that he has developed and perfected over decades of experience working with many virtuosos including Jascha Heifetz and David Oistrakh.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bearespublishing.com/product-page/the-violin-in-5ths-developing-intonation-and-sound|title=Product Page|website=Bearespublishing.com|accessdate=25 July 2020}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.thestradshop.com/store/thestrad/the-violin-in-5ths-developing-intonation-and-sound/ |title=The Violin in 5ths - Developing Intonation and Sound - the Strad Shop |access-date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=24 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924154835/https://www.thestradshop.com/store/thestrad/the-violin-in-5ths-developing-intonation-and-sound/ |url-status=dead }}