Born in 1996 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Janelle’s passion for the violin began at the age of seven. Three years later, she joined Wells Cathedral School (WCS) as a specialist violinist under the tutelage of Catherine Lord. She was awarded a full music scholarship and the Keith Showering Bursary, as well as being the first ever recipient of the HSBC Malaysia Classics Bursary at the age of ten. Janelle currently studies privately with So Ock Kim, professor of violin at the Royal Academy of Music.
Janelle made her solo concerto debut at the age of 15 with the Atheneum Kamerorkest under the baton of Arjan Tien, playing Mozart’s Violin Concerto no. 1. A year after that, she won the WCS Concerto Auditions, and performed the Korngold Violin Concerto in the Symphonic Finale 2015, with Matthew Andrews as guest conductor. More recently, she was accepted into the Pacific Music Festival Orchestral Academy 2015 in Sapporo, Japan, where she spent a month working with some of the most distinguished conductors in the world including Valery Gergiev, along with faculty from the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and several American orchestras. She was thrilled to have been chosen, considering that the Festival is open internationally to an age range of 18 to 29, and nearly 1000 candidates applied for 78 places.
Besides solo playing, Janelle performs with the Aldwych Sinfonia and Kings Chamber Orchestra in London. During her time at WCS, she led the WCS Symphony Orchestra and participated in two highly successful European tours with the Wells Virtuosi. Janelle is also a keen chamber musician and has enjoyed a diverse variety of collaborations. This has taken her to various platforms around the world - in 2012, her string quartet toured Milan, Italy, collaborating with the Sir James Henderson School and performing at the Palazzo de Serbelloni. More recently, she performed the Martinu Nonet no. 2 in a masterclass at the Colston Hall as part of the Canadian National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra’s UK tour. Along with eight other musicians from Wells, she worked with Christopher Millard and Joel Quarrington, respectively Principal Bassoon and Principal Double Bass in the NAC Orchestra, directed by Pinchas Zukerman. Janelle has benefitted immensely from solo and chamber masterclasses with a number of notable figures, including Sally O’Reilly (Professor of Violin, University of Minnesota), Lucy Chapman (Professor at the New England Conservatory, USA) and James Ehnes.
