Cora Venus Lunny (b. 1981) is an Irish violinist. She is the daughter of Irish musician Dónal Lunny and German photographer Julia Buthe.^[1]

Established as a classical musician since her teens, Lunny is active as a soloist, chamber musician, interpreter of contemporary classical music, improvising violinist and composer. She has toured Europe, America and China as a violin soloist with the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra.^[2]

Early years

Born into a musical family in Dublin, Lunny was given her first violin at the age of three, immediately showing a natural aptitude and love for the instrument. She was classically trained in the Suzuki Method. A brief fling with movie acting failed to distract her, and a life in music became her goal. From the age of thirteen she studied intensively with violin teachers around Europe, including Rimma Sushanskaya, Joji Hattori, Alexander Arenkov, Arkady Futer, Lara Lev and Vladimir Spivakov.

Music career

In 2002, Lunny was a guest musician on Sinéad O'Connor's album of traditional Irish songs, Sean-Nós Nua, her first excursion into the non-classical world. This inspired her to improvise more and experiment with other genres of music. A few months in Vienna among the classical establishment became an unintentional sabbatical, and confirmed that despite her love for classical music, she needed to broaden her musical horizons.^{[citation needed]}

A jam with Nigel Kennedy in Dingle in 2002 (filmed for a Philip King documentary)^{[citation needed]} resulted in an invitation to Berlin with his band, to play some Polish folk music and pieces written by Jimi Hendrix. Subsequently, she accompanied Kennedy on a tour of Taiwan, Japan and New Zealand as second soloist, playing Vivaldi Double Concertos and some pieces by Bartok.

Lunny's musical travels took her as far as Iceland and the Faeroe Islands^{[citation needed]} and, in 2004, she made her first foray into film score composition for Sangrail, an unfinished short.^[3]

In 2005, she made her debut as a violist in a performance of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Vladimir Spivakov and the Ulster Orchestra at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast.^{[citation needed]}

Also in 2005, she joined Clodagh Simonds' Fovea Hex.^[4]

Lunny has performed as a guest on other artists' albums, including 9, from Damien Rice.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, she served on the international jury of the Sarasate Violin Competition in Pamplona, where she had been a laureate herself in 2001.^{[citation needed]}

Lunny is currently working on her own solo recording projects of both classical music and original material.^{[citation needed]}

Film career

Lunny has appeared in several Irish films: Rawhead Rex (1986), Man About Dog (2004), Speed Dating (2007), Bachelors Walk Christmas Special (2006), and Mr Crocodile in the Cupboard (2008).^[5]

Lunny also contributed as a musician on the soundtrack of the following films and documentaries: Screw Cupid (2008), Truth About Kerry (2010), Men of Arlington (2011), and Mud Pies & Kites: Death & Resurrection in Haiti (2012).^[5]

Selected discography

References

External links

• Cora Venus Lunny, "Filmography" at IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website, retrieved 8 July 2016 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

• Cora Venus Lunny, "Celtic Program Soloists" at Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra website, retrieved 8 July 2016 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

• Dwyer, Ciara (31 July 2005), Cora Venus rising . . . 'it's all about sex', "Independent Woman Celeb News" at Independent.ie website, retrieved 8 July 2016 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

• "Cora Venus Lunny Discography". discogs.com. Retrieved 9 July 2016.

• "About Cora Venus Lunny". hopeconcerto.wordpress.com. Retrieved 9 July 2016.