奈吉尔·甘乃迪(Nigel Kennedy,1956年12月28日-),英国布莱顿人,是个打扮像庞克族的小提琴怪杰。 惊世骇俗的造型和作风引起不少议论,但是超绝的小提琴技巧却又令人无言以对。以一首艾尔加小提琴协奏曲被英国人捧为杜普蕾之后,最伟大的器乐天才。最重要的,他是金氏世界纪录见证史上专辑最畅销的古典音乐家。 早年在Yehudi Menuhin School学琴,后入美国朱利亚音乐学院学习,成为小提琴教母狄蕾的入室弟子。1985年首次录制艾尔加的小提琴协奏曲,就获得留声机唱片大奖的「年度最佳唱片」,而「四季」专辑更让他事业攀登巅峰,甘乃迪却因身心俱疲选择告别乐坛。1997年四月,甘乃迪於伦敦宣布复出,顿时成为乐坛大事,他不仅著力於古典音乐的完美展现,更将触角伸及至各个音乐领域。才华洋溢,也是著名的爵士乐手。
by Jason Ankeny
As one of the most successful classical performers of his time, violinist Nigel Kennedy's genre-defying music helped him achieve a level of fame typically reserved for pop stars. A native of Brighton, England, he studied music at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at Juilliard; his debut recording, Elgar Violin Concerto, appeared in 1984, shortly followed by Nigel Kennedy Plays Jazz. In the years to follow, Kennedy collaborated not only with the more traditional likes of Riccardo Muti and the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and Andre Previn, but also with pop figures including Paul McCartney and Kate Bush; his fame reached new heights with the 1989 release of his recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, which went as high as number three on the U.K. pop charts and went on to sell well over a million copies. In 1992, neck surgery forced Kennedy to retire for several years; when he resurfaced with 1996's Kafka, he performed his own compositions for the first time, broadening his scope to include not only classical music but also elements of Celtic, rock, and jazz. The Jimi Hendrix tribute The Kennedy Experience followed in 1999.