From an early age, I was surrounded by the music of my parents – everything from Chopin and Debussy to Crosby, Stills and Nash and Supertramp. It was an eclectic time!
I started singing in a church choir at the age of seven and ended up in the Trinity Boys Choir trading school textbooks for opera scores. Thanks to the fantastic opportunity at Trinity, I fell into music heavily and decided to spend a year singing for a church in Princeton, New Jersey, where I also sang with the Princeton University Chamber Choir and Glee Club under Gabriel Crouch.
Following a year of musical gallivanting and an obligatory expedition to the American Wild West, I returned to the UK to study English Literature at Warwick University. I joined a surprisingly vast and vibrant music scene at Warwick, taking part in some fantastic Opera Warwick productions and concerts with the University Chamber Choir under Paul McGrath. I also joined the Birmingham-based ensemble Ex Cathedra and performed some incredible music with them thanks to their director Jeffrey Skidmore.
Post-Warwick, I stumbled into the world of publishing and ended up working as a journalist in the maritime industry specialising in naval architecture. (FYI: If you ever need to tell the difference between a ship and a boat; you can put a boat on a ship, but not a ship on a boat.)
Music was always on my mind, however. So in 2017, I moved back to the US to study music at the University of Illinois School of Music. After two years of studying and training as a baritone, I graduated with a master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Literature and returned to the UK in 2019.
Thanks to my studies I was exposed to the inner workings of the School of Music as well as the extensive programming of the adjacent arts hub, The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. This experience and the inspiring attitude of the staff convinced me that my future lay in facilitating the arts both on and off the stage and gave me a passion for connecting audiences and artists; something that makes me very excited to work at Southbank Sinfonia.
Beyond music, I love to be active and daydream of being some sort of explorer. The outdoors is a constant inspiration for me. And I suppose I don’t like to sit still too long either!
What’s on your playlist right now?
I’m going through a film score phase. More specifically, an 80s sci-fi and fantasy film score phase. Vangelis’ Blade Runner soundtrack and Trevor Jones’ Dark Crystal score have made recent appearances.
Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us
My best excuse for missing school: I spent three weeks in Venice singing in a production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.