I grew up in a family of musicians, so music was always an imperative part of my childhood. From attending orchestral performances at the Royal Festival Hall to grooving to Herbie Hancock on my dad’s Walkman, my childhood was enveloped by music. I was introduced to the violin at the age of 3 and studied under Balint Szekele. At 10, I started on the bassoon, taught first by Vicky Cowells and later Julie Andrews during my secondary school years. At 18, I was principal bassoonist of the London Schools’ Symphony Orchestra, and was also the inaugural recipient of a composition prize that allowed for tuition under Cecelia McDowell.

I studied Music at the University of York, studying bassoon under Laurence Perkins and veering my degree largely in the direction of composition. I took such modules including Composition I & II, ‘The Magic of Microtones’, and ‘Analysis as Composition, Composition as Analysis’. Alongside this I studied conducting and wrote essays in musicology and music history. I was an avid member of The Chimera Ensemble - the university’s contemporary music ensemble and largest of its kind in the U.K. An active member both in the ensemble and on the committee, I performed on bassoon and violin, conducted professional works, and had my own compositions premiered. In my final year, I was selected as a soloist for the yearly Chimera Concerto Commission alongside cellist Rebecca Burden, and premiered a double concerto written by Oscar Ridout.

In 2021, I undertook a Master’s of Arts by Research at the same university under the supervision of Stef Conner. My thesis and portfolio responded to Paul Klee's discussions on the interplay of music, art, simultaneity, and temporality, and was an exploration into whether music's innate temporality could similarly benefit from composed simultaneity through the direct adoption of painting methodologies into music composition with the aim of illustrating abstract concepts through sound. I was awarded the University of York Nicola Lefanu Prize this year.

Since leaving university, I have been working as a freelance performing musician and teacher. I workshop pieces, record, and perform for professional composers, and currently teach at Croydon Music and Arts and Newham Music, teaching bassoon, violin, and whole class general musicianship from early years to KS2. I am now exploring electronic music, analogue and modular synthesisers, and combing the bassoon with pedals and synths to expand its timbral capabilities. I am currently seeking funding to explore this further.