When I was a child my mother regularly suggested that I could pursue being a professional horn player, however I was absolutely adamant that it was ‘just for fun’. When I was lucky enough to be offered a scholarship to Wells Cathedral School as a specialist musician at 14 I ended up having a little bit TOO much fun and decided she was right (as she often is). I went on to do my Bachelor degree at the Guildhall School of Music of Drama where I was fortunate enough to benefit from world class teaching, exciting collaborations and passionate friends who broadened my horizons. After a brief ERASMUS in Stuttgart during which I decided I never wanted to look at a French horn again in my life (but gleaned some excellent horn wisdom), I rediscovered my love for music in classical improvisation classes which I’ve recently been putting to use with the Wigmore Hall project ‘Music for Life’ in workshops with people living with dementia.
When I was a child my mother regularly suggested that I could pursue being a professional horn player, however I was absolutely adamant that it was ‘just for fun’. When I was lucky enough to be offered a scholarship to Wells Cathedral School as a specialist musician at 14 I ended up having a little bit TOO much fun and decided she was right (as she often is). I went on to do my Bachelor degree at the Guildhall School of Music of Drama where I was fortunate enough to benefit from world class teaching, exciting collaborations and passionate friends who broadened my horizons. After a brief ERASMUS in Stuttgart during which I decided I never wanted to look at a French horn again in my life (but gleaned some excellent horn wisdom), I rediscovered my love for music in classical improvisation classes which I’ve recently been putting to use with the Wigmore Hall project ‘Music for Life’ in workshops with people living with dementia.
Unsure what direction my life would take after graduating I stumbled into a job playing with Orchestra Academia China in Beijing. None of it went quite to plan due to some virus that was going around at the time but I spent about a year there building up an enthusiasm for Chinese language and cuisine which I’ve brought back with me to London. After spending the 21/22 season as Co-Principal horn of the Cairo Symphony orchestra, learning to dive and perusing some awesome ruins and human remains, I decided it was time to come home. Since being back I’ve had the privilege of performing with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, the National Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva and London Brass and I’m excited to add Southbank Sinfonia to that list!
I don’t think it would ever have occurred to me to move across the world if it hadn’t been for my work volunteering with the ‘Wind-Up Penguin Theatre Company’. Projects in India, Greece and Tanzania, delivering music-theatre and creative workshops to children in deprived communities, have opened my eyes to the wider world and the power music has to facilitate joy, fun and human connection. Aside from the incredible experience of bringing great music to life with like-minded musicians, the things that draw me to a career in music are the places it takes me and the relationships it makes possible.
EDUCATION
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
London, UK
Stuttgart Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst
Stuttgart, Germany
QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
I think if I weren’t a musician I would like to do something involving humanitarian aid in crisis situations, working with children.
What is your favourite piece of music and why do you love it?
The impossible question! If I absolutely had to choose, I think it would have to be Brahms’
Second Piano Concerto. Every phrase of that piece tugs at my heartstrings and the horn parts are fantastic! Though, if I’m entirely honest, you are more likely to find me listening through the extensive record catalogue of the
Divine Comedy.
