Biography

Growing up in a musical family, I learnt the violin with my mum from the age of six. I had great fun playing in my school orchestra, the National Children’s Orchestra, and local youth orchestras before I really fell in love with the violin and orchestral playing after hearing the National Youth Orchestra (NYO) play Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony in 2017. I joined the NYO the following year. The NYO was hugely important for me, giving me great friends, mentorship, and orchestral experience. I vividly remember my first time playing in the BBC Proms, where the support from the audience is like nowhere else!

Alongside playing the violin, I have always had a keen interest in the academic side of music, so I decided to do my undergraduate degree at the University of Cambridge. My three years of study were incredibly rewarding. As well as academic study, Cambridge has an incredibly rich concert scene, in which I immersed myself from day one. I had the opportunity to play such a wide breadth of orchestral, operatic, and chamber music with incredible conductors and mentors. I also thoroughly enjoyed organising concert series during my years there, unlocking a new passion for music management. I am so grateful to have studied there; I know that what I learnt has shaped me as a musician and helped prepare me for the joys and challenges of the profession.

Since graduating, I have balanced my time between studying at conservatoires in Spain (Musikene) and the UK (Royal Northern College of Music, RNCM), starting my career as a violinist, and working behind the scenes in arts organisations. I had a wonderful year studying in Spain with Liana Gourdija. I gained my first professional orchestral experience there and loved learning the language and immersing myself fully in another culture. Since returning to the UK, I have spent three months at the RNCM, worked at Buxton International Festival – both as a violinist and at the Book Festival, the artist management agency KD SCHMID, and have volunteered with Sheffield Music School. I was also very lucky to have spent the past year on Orpheus Sinfonia’s Foundation Programme and to have played in Chipping Campden Festival’s Academy Orchestra.

I am so excited for this new chapter and to see where my year with Sinfonia Smith Square will take me!