Micaela Comberti

Micaela "Mica" Comberti (28 September 1952 – 4 March 2003) was an English violinist. Her concert career lasted from 1977 until her death. Born to a German mother and an Italian father, she was taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the Royal Academy of Music and the Mozarteum University Salzburg. Comberti was involved in early music and played for The English Concert, St. James' Baroque, Ex Cathedra and the Collegium Musicum 90. She also taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. An award and position at the Royal Academy of Music are named after the violinist.

Biography Comberti was born to a German mother and an Italian father in London on 28 September 1952. She was known by the name Mica from an early age. Comberti demonstrated a talent for music from an early age; aged 19 she travelled to Vienna to study with the violinist Eduard Melkus at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with her experiences directing her to historical performances.

She returned to the United Kingdom in 1972.

The Micaela Comberti Chair for Baroque Violin at the Royal Academy of Music was established in September 2008 and is currently led by one of Comberti's pupils, Rachel Podger. The conservatoire also awards the Mica Comberti Prize on a yearly basis "for the performance of any complete work by JS Bach for violin, viola or viola da gamba."