Nigel Kennedy: the real thing

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Nigel Kennedy is still often viewed as the bad boy of the violin, but he reveals his thoughtful, straight-talking nature as he chats with Harry White about equality, education and his recent forays into original composition

Such is the sardonic tone that some journalists adopt when describing interviews with Nigel Kennedy, you sometimes wonder whether they are making lazy assumptions, or whether he is deliberately playing up to this perceived image.

Why is there so much cognitive dissonance within the media upon meeting one of the great violin virtuosos of the modern era? If he’s not behaving like a stereotypical grand master, they say, it must just all be self-conscious affectation. But shed such preconceived notions and you’ll find Kennedy to be quite real just as he is – a straight-talking, affectionate egalitarian, passionate about education and forthright in his defence of stylistic diversity…

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