Meet the Musicians

I started the horn at 8 years old, simply because there was one my parents had collected lying around the house! Growing up in Cambridgeshire, I have a fairly musical family, which helped in my being sure that I wanted to pursue music and the horn in the future. At school I loved being an active (perhaps over-active) member of the music department, and after school, I was initially not sure whether I wanted to study music at a university or conservatoire. During my A-Level year, I became more and more sure that I wanted the latter, and have now completed my undergraduate degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and my Master’s at the Royal College of Music. I have studied with so many fantastic teachers across the years, each of whom have had an impact on my development as a musician.

I developed a passion for many different types of music during my time at Aldeburgh Young Musicians, with whom I have now been a regular course tutor, for intense week-long courses on an eclectic range of musical genres. During my time in London, I volunteered at the West London Mission in conjunction with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields for a 12-hour overnight performance of Jesus Blood by Gavin Bryars, and was 2nd horn of the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. In 2019 I played with the Britten Shostakovich Festival Orchestra’s inaugural tour of Russia and the UK, and toured to Guernsey with the West End production of Phantom of the Opera. In more recent years, I’ve been building my freelance career and have played with the BBC Concert Orchestra, toured to Dubai with the Firdaus Orchestra, and have played with the Prince Consort Orchestra for the semi-finals of the Hastings International Piano Competition.

In April 2018, I founded the cross-conservatoire all-female horn octet, Cor8, which is one of the greatest musical joys in my life. It has been incredibly enriching playing alongside my friends so regularly, particularly as we all have such shared experiences as women in the music industry. I have a strong passion for education, and, during the lockdowns, we launched Cor8 Horn Club; an online club for children of all ages and abilities to focus on a different genre or aspect of horn-playing each month. Back in 2019, Cor8 were featured performers at the British Horn Festival and lead a workshop of 40 young horn players aged 7-18 culminating in a massed ensemble performance.

I also enjoy playing in brass and wind ensembles and am a keen conductor. As a brass and singing teacher, I have taught for Hillingdon Music Hub, Stagecoach Hackney and Islington, Ealing Junior Music Service, Suzuki Hub and Artpeggios. Outside of music I am a feminist and love long walks.

EDUCATION

Royal College of Music
London, UK

Guildhall School of Music and Drama
London, UK

OTHER PROJECTS

Cor8

QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS

What do you do with your time when you’re not playing music?
Spending time with family and friends is incredibly important to me. I also have so many books I’ve bought but not had time to read, so I like to do this whenever I feel I can. I try to keep myself informed on issues I care about that affect us all, such as the climate crisis, refugee rights, racial injustices around the world and gender equality for all - inclusive of trans and non-binary people. The books I read are often about these things, whether fiction or non-fiction, and encourage me to take action in the ways I can. I also love long walks, podcasts, and spending time by the sea, particularly Aldeburgh.

What’s your most memorable moment as a musician?
Probably on my first ever music course, aged 10, when we performed Godzilla Eats Las Vegas for wind orchestra which is raucous and involves an Elvis impersonator. I remember it being overwhelmingly amazing.