Biography

My musical life began when I was seven, when the music service in Belfast came into my primary school and offered lessons. After trying out the wind and brass ones, I found myself able to make a sound on the trumpet quite easily and so started lessons. A year later, I started with the youngest wind ensemble in the music service and really started to have fun. As I grew up, I sat grade exams but always had the most fun playing with others, especially in the music service’s annual concerts in the amazing Ulster Hall in Belfast.

By the time I was 15, I joined the City of Belfast Youth Orchestra, and later on the Ulster Youth Orchestra at 17, and started going to see live concerts from the Ulster Orchestra. This allowed me to experience composers such as Mahler and Shostakovich for the first time, which opened me up to what the trumpet could do in an orchestra and planted the idea in my head that I could pursue a career in music.

This started me on a journey which first took me to Scotland. In my first two years, I was immediately faced with embouchure challenges and, a few months later, the COVID pandemic. I took these lockdowns, which sent me home to Belfast in my first year and kept me indoors with Zoom trumpet lessons in the second year, as opportunities to slowly work things out and practice with the information I had gathered in my first few months of studying. Things slowly worked themselves out, and by my final year of undergrad, I was fortunate to work with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and played 1st trumpet in Mahler’s 5th Symphony with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Symphony Orchestra. I also auditioned and was accepted to the Royal College of Music in London, which allowed me to keep pushing myself and allowed for many more performance opportunities.

I am extremely thankful for this time at the RCM, as it allowed me to grow as a person and musician and has unlocked an exciting new chapter for me at Sinfonia Smith Square.

When I am not playing or thinking about music, I enjoy cooking, gaming, going for walks, and listening to podcasts; just anything that lets me unwind a bit. Being in green spaces reminds me of the area I grew up in and is always a nice contrast to the hectic nature of a big city such as London. Whilst I’m not at all fussy, I can appreciate a good coffee when I have one.