What have you been up to since graduating?
Since December 2022, I have been a full-time member of the second violin section with the LPO. The whole process happened quite quickly after graduating. I had already been freelancing with the orchestra during my final year as I was on their Foyle Future First programme. About a month after my final recital at the Academy, I auditioned for the orchestra and was on trial with them for about three months before being offered the job. I love performing as part of an orchestra and it’s a job I’ve always wanted. As a musician, the feeling of being on stage with your colleagues and together creating that orchestral sound is unbeatable.
Alongside that, I have been performing with my string quartet, Calathea Quartet. We were very lucky to do a tour in New Zealand recently, supported by Chamber Music New Zealand. I really enjoyed bringing all the quartet members to my home country and showing them all the touristy sights!
How did your experience performing with the Academy’s orchestras help to prepare you for the LPO?
Although I already had some experience in the New Zealand orchestral scene, the experience I had playing with the Academy’s orchestras definitely helped prepare me even more for professional life.
One of the key things the Academy orchestras helped to teach me is being prepared, such as you would in the professional orchestral world. When you’re working as part of a professional orchestra it is important that you arrive to rehearsals prepared and that you know the piece back to front, given how little rehearsal time there often is.
You get to make so many connections at the Academy as well. It was very helpful to get an understanding of what it is like to work with professional conductors in the UK. Shortly before lockdown, in March 2020, I performed with the Academy Chamber Orchestra conducted by Trevor Pinnock who was incredible to work with. Since leaving I have had the opportunity to work with again many of the Conductors I learned under at the Academy, such as Edward Gardner who is Principal Conductor of the LPO.
Tell us more about your work with Calathea Quartet.
We formed at the Academy in the second year of our Master’s degree. It was quite an unusual start because we were still in the midst of the pandemic, so it was difficult to get performance opportunities at first. We had a lot of help from Professor of Violin and Chamber Musician in Residence, Levon Chilingirian. He inspired us to pursue our quartet, and acted as our chamber music mentor which we are very grateful for.
I love playing as part of the orchestra, however having the quartet as well is a really important part of my career. I appreciate the musical voice I’m able to have and it encourages me to always continue improving my technique.
We have lots of ambitions for this coming year. We were Britten Pears Young Artists for 2023 and 2024, so we will be returning to Snape Maltings in March. Then, we are also hoping to do some more competitions and summer courses, which we didn’t have the opportunity to do last year.
What does the Academy mean to you?
It had always been a dream of mine to study in London. It is such a musical hub full of diverse genres of music everywhere you turn! I auditioned elsewhere in Europe and the US, however when I visited London for auditions it immediately felt like a second home. Aside from our accents, I think New Zealanders are fairly similar to the Brits so the culture shock wasn’t too extreme.
Training at the Academy was an important step for my career, given that I am now working in the UK as well. I should mention my amazing professor György Pauk. He showed me what it meant to work incredibly hard and taught me so much in only three years. I loved the years I spent learning with him and I’ll always appreciate them.
What is coming up for you in 2024?
It’s a pretty busy year! I’m looking forward to working with the Academy again in January/February when the LPO members, Foyle Future Firsts and Royal Academy of Music students will be doing a SIDE-BY-SIDE at the Southbank Centre. It’ll be really lovely to return to Dukes Hall for our rehearsals too! The orchestra has a lot of tours this year as well, including to Gran Canaria, Athens, Austria, Germany and a busy season at Glyndebourne featuring some incredible operas.