Biography

At the age of 8, I began my musical journey with the recorder. We had whole-class lessons for 2 weeks and were then given the choice of learning an orchestral instrument. I enjoyed the sound of the clarinet and since it was similar to the recorder, I chose it as my instrument. Throughout my childhood, I had an enormously varied musical life and learnt piano in addition to becoming a chorister at Leicester Cathedral Choir.

When I was 16, I joined the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra and after playing Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, I fell completely in love with orchestral music. Upon going to university, I knew I wanted to study music and graduated from The University of Manchester with a Bachelor of Music in 2020. This was a general degree, but it was here that I really discovered that orchestral music was my calling.

Despite all the uncertainty with the pandemic, in 2020 I embarked on a Master’s of Music at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. This was the biggest step I took on my path to becoming an orchestral musician. I had the opportunity to study with the amazing clarinet section of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and as part of the CBSO training scheme, I got to play a huge variety of symphonic repertoire with this world-class orchestra.

In addition, I joined the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group’s post-graduate ensemble ‘NEXT’ and developed an interest and specialism in performing contemporary music. My love of contemporary music has led me to join the Sound World Group in Bristol, a brand-new contemporary music ensemble dedicated to performing accessible contemporary music concerts in the South West. Presenting classical music in an accessible way is part of my wider passion in music education and I enjoy working as a teacher alongside my playing career.

Last year, I moved back to Manchester to embark on a Postgraduate Diploma with a scholarship at the Royal Northern College of Music to further hone my skills. Whilst there, I applied for Sinfonia Smith Square and was also lucky enough to have the opportunity to freelance with both the Hallé orchestra and Opera North in their productions of Cosi Fan Tutte, Simon Boccenegra and My Fair Lady.

After graduating from the RNCM, I received an invitation to join the 2023/24 year’s orchestra in going on tour to Anghiari. This was such an amazing experience and has made me really look forward to joining the orchestra in October fully. Aside from music, I enjoy cooking, walking, catching up with friends and exploring new places where I’m living.