Biography
I grew up in Bromley, in southeast London. I started learning a brass instrument at my primary school on a scheme called ‘Band on the Run’. This offered pupils the opportunity to have free group instrumental tuition and to perform in a concert at the end of the term. After playing the cornet for a year, I attended a ‘Try an instrument’ day at my local music service, Bromley Youth Music Trust (BYMT) where I picked up a French horn for the first time. I remember feeling very proud that I was able to play the theme from Postman Pat as a lot of the valve combinations are transferrable from cornet to horn.
I played in ensembles at BYMT from the age of 10 to 18 and rehearsals were always the highlight of my week. We were lucky to have a large cohort of horn players in our academic year and so we got to spend 8 years playing alongside each other and having fun! One of the most memorable memories from BYMT was getting to compete at the Kerkrade World Music Contest in 2017. It was the most musicians I’d ever seen in one place and I remember that the atmosphere was incredible.
After planning to complete an undergraduate degree in musicology at university, I decided fairly last-minute to go to conservatoire instead. I gained a place at Royal Academy of Music where I studied for four years. I have just completed my Master’s on the Orchestral Artistry course at Guildhall School of Music and Drama where I studied with Jonathan Lipton, Angela Barnes and Sue Dent. I’m over the moon to have won trials with Royal Ballet Sinfonia and the English National Ballet this year and it has been exciting to explore both ballet and opera repertoire, which I really love playing! I am also lucky to be part of two very fun and active chamber groups; wind quintet, CATIL Quintet and flexi-ensemble, Meliora Collective.
My main love outside of music is swimming! The feeling of weightlessness in the water is a unique feeling to the rest of the ‘real world’ and it is a great place to clear both physical and mental tension! I also like to spend lots of time outside; hiking, camping or going for runs with my dog, Rudy.