Emily Shinner

Emily Shinner (7 July 1862 – 17 July 1901) was an English concert violinist and academic, and founder of a string quartet. Life She was born in Cheltenham in 1862. Her father, Arthur Shinner, was head of the Cheltenham Original Brewery and an amateur musician; he supported her musical education. From the age of seven she had music lessons; she was a student at the Royal Academy of Music, and in 1874 went to Berlin and studied with Heinrich Jacobsen, a pupil of Joseph Joachim. She later studied with Joachim, the first woman to do so. Shinner's debut in London after completing her studies was in 1882 at Kensington Town Hall, playing the Violin Sonata No. 1 by Brahms and other works. A critic wrote: "Her playing, besides being perfect in every technical respect, is marked by an extraordinary degree of intelligence and true artistic refinement" (The Pall Mall Gazette, 12 June 1882). In February 1884 she replaced Wilma Norman-Neruda, who was unwell, in a quartet in a Saturday "Pops" Concert in St James's Hall; the event was successful, and made her well known to the public. She appeared in London at the Crystal Palace, Prince's Hall and Queen's Hall, and gave concerts in other cities in England.