Iona Brown

Iona Brown, OBE (7 January 1941┬áÔ[][] 5 June 2004) was a British violinist and conductor. Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury. Her parents Antony and Fiona were both musicians. In addition, her brother Timothy is principal horn player with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, her other brother Ian is a pianist, and her sister Sally plays viola with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. From 1963 to 1966, Brown was a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra. In 1964, she joined the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, working her way up through the ranks to become a soloist and director in 1974. She formally left the Academy in 1980, but continued to work with them for the remainder of her life. In 1981, Brown was appointed artistic director of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. She served as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra from 1987 to 1992. From 1985 to 1989, she was guest director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. As her health declined and she suffered from arthritis, she shifted her focus from the violin to conducting, and ended her violin career in 1998. In the last years until her death, she was chief conductor of the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra Denmark.