BIOGRAPHY

My first exposure to both the classical and jazz world of music came with my grandmother, who would play all sorts of things to me and my younger sister in the car and at home – I was always amazed at how she could recall what we were listening to and who it was by, and now, as an adult, we’ve come full circle; I talk to her for hours on end about all the music I recognise! Her favourite pieces were always the most Romantic and dramatic, and this certainly impacted the way I hear music. Additionally, I owe the influence of musical theatre to my mother, who would play us anything from Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Merrily we Roll Along, to Kander and Ebb’s Chicago and The Scottsboro Boys, Bobby Lopez’ Avenue Q and Book of Mormon, and Jerry Herman’s Hello Dolly! and Mack and Mabel; and the influence of the blues to my father, who would play us all sorts of things, too many artists to mention here! Such a wide variety of music has given me a very eclectic ear, one drawn very specifically to extended harmony, which all of these genres widely utilise.

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Having a mother who wanted her children to try different things, I began piano lessons at the age of six and, unfortunately, wasn't actually very interested in it – I would memorise music by looking at my teacher’s hands, start from the very beginning every time I played, normally at lightning-speed every time, and did things like putting my head on the piano and refusing to do anything at all – I matured past this somewhat, but even until after I passed Grade 5 piano I was nowhere near disciplined enough to be any good... However, at the age of twelve I had an epiphany: I vividly remember being sat in a maths classroom and suddenly getting an aching urge to play – and immediately after the lesson I went straight to the music room and began to play through the lunch hour. From there, I began to enjoy the music I studied – though my practise still wasn’t disciplined enough, I started to attentively listen to music, play pieces outside of the ABRSM syllabus, try new instruments like the saxophone, and crucially, compose.

My first attempt at what I thought was composition was actually a basic arrangement arrangement exercise – it wasn’t very good – really, it was an exact replica of the original, but you've got to start somewhere! I was proud enough of it to start writing original music too, and soon I had written my first piano piece. Then, I attempted to (very bombastically) orchestrate the work, which hooked me further – soon I was writing more orchestral pieces and even big band tunes; I was just beginning to flourish. Around this time, a family friend saw some of my work and recommended Chetham’s School of Music to us – at first, my parents were skeptical, expecting that anyone considering such a prestigious school would be a Mozart-level prodigy, but we nonetheless visited on an opening day – and I was awestruck by it. My secondary school’s music department had been limited in its resources, funding and teacher strength (I had seemed to be dealing with a teacher who outwardly wanted me to fail), but Chetham’s just had everything that a music-lover could hope for and more. When I was fourteen, I auditioned for joint Piano and Composition, and first met respective heads of department Dr Murray McLachlan and Dr Jeremy Pike. Jeremy believed I was capable of entering the next year for my GCSEs, but while Murray saw potential, he was less convinced: he gave me a few lessons to see how I would respond (my progression here, thanks to him, was unbelievably quick), but ultimately I fell onto the reserve list for that year – I just wasn’t ready. Instead, I continued my GCSEs at home. However, I was determined to try again for Sixth Form, even dropping a GCSE to allow for frees in the school term which would allow me to further study music. I auditioned for Chetham’s again two years later – again, Jeremy was willing to take me on, but Murray believed I needed one last push to be at the required level. After ten private lessons with him, Chetham’s offered me a place, and I boarded there for two years of Sixth Form, completing my three A Levels and a Level 3 EPQ alongside my joint principal study under Jeremy Young for piano and Doug Mason for composition. Here, I thrived: my composition and pianistic skills began to develop and my musical tastes started to expand even further! I’ve had opportunities to perform and record – and be performed and recorded, as well as continuing with saxophone and many other skills.

From there, I auditioned for the Royal Northern College of Music and continued my study joint principal study on the college’s intensive BMus programme, studying once again with Murray, and with former head of composition Professor Adam Gorb. During this transition into a professional environment, I also began to teach, and discovered yet another passion! Having graduated with First Class honours in 2024, I then studied at the RNCM again with Professors Adam Gorb, David Horne and Simon Clarke to attain my Master's Degree in Composition and Musicology at the RNCM, achieving a distinction. Alongside academia and teaching, I now also work extensively in the theatre as a pit musician, musical director/supervisor, and composer/lyricist.