FOR someone a few short weeks shy of 21, virtuoso violinist Nicola Benedetti certainly gets around.
In fact, before she's able to crack open the birthday bubbly she'll have given performances in China, Spain, France and Germany.
It's an exhausting schedule but one she talks passionately about. There's the people she meets, the places she sees, t
he performances and the privileges that come with a jet-set lifestyle.
The only one drawback to her fabulous life is, it seems, jet-lag, "Which I'm just beginning to experience. It really is terrible," she agrees.
Jet-lag isn't the only ailment the star, who burst onto the international classical music scene in 2004 after winning the BBC's young musician of the year, has had to deal with lately.
Recent back problems forced the cancellation of several concerts in America last month, and it has been suggested that it is her style of playing that is part of the problem.
Not that she is going to let it affect her first international tour with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), which brings her to the Festival Theatre this weekend.
"The doctors haven't been able to say exactly what's causing it, but I'm sure all the travelling and playing all the time has something to do with it," she says.
"There are things that come up in Scotland every couple of days. But if I want to develop a career in America, Germany, Japan, China, any of these places, I can't just stay playing Scotland all the time – I think everyone will get sick of me as well."
Right now then, Benedetti is no doubt grateful to be warming up her £2 million Stradivarius for a performance well within her local time-zone.
On Sunday the violinist will be reunited with the RSNO for the first time since their 2006 collaboration when artistic director Stephane Deneve conducted her in Benedetti and Deneve.
The pair will again be on stage together, this time closing the RSNO's season – based on the theme of dance – before continuing to Spain for more performances together.
Recalling their last rehearsals together, she says, "I would suggest things that maybe he hadn't thought of and, equally, he would have ideas that were new to me. That's a very exciting way to work and makes for a far better performance."
Deneve is enthusiastic about both the upcoming tour and the challenges that the Scottish performances will bring.
He says, "In Scotland we will be playing Szymanowski. It will be very special because it was Nicola's first recording and this is my first experience with it.
"It's gorgeous, very erotic music based on a poem. He was influenced by French impressionism and you can hear that in the piece".
To finish off the season they will also be playing Beethoven's seventh symphony reveals Deneve. "Wagner described it as the apotheosis of the dance, so it is very fitting," says the conductor.
Deneve has nothing but praise for the passion and focus Benedetti and the orchestra bring to the music.
"I've just done a tour in Austria and Germany with the orchestra and was inspired by their commitment and generosity.
"One concert each day in a different city is tiring but very exciting. You have to practice, do a sound check, check into a new hotel. You have to focus a lot".
It's this dedication to the music that keeps Benedetti, like all of the RSNO musicians, practising for five hours a day regardless of whether it's in a Japanese airport, French concert hall or German hotel.
For all her international adventures, however, there's always a little piece of home tugging at the violin strings in her heart, admits Benedetti.
"Recently I spent a day in Aviemore, and as I stepped out of the car into the beauty, space and stillness of the mountains, it did strike me how extraordinary it would be to perform my violin among the hills and the wildlife.
"The air in Scotland is second to none, and it would be so refreshing. The weather could prove to be a slight problem, though."
•
RSNO – Finale! Brilliant Benedetti, Festival Theatre, Nicolson Street, Sunday, 6pm, £10-£28, 0131-529 6000 The full article contains 703 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
