Patricia studied on an open scholarship with Geoffrey Gilbert at the Royal Manchester College of Music
Her career began in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, where she specialised in playing the piccolo. She has had a varied freelance career, playing with most of the major symphony orchestras in England whilst occupying the chair of Principal Piccolo with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Patricia has a strong commitment to and enjoyment of teaching; as well as being a professor at the Academy she gives masterclasses at various conservatoires and courses around Europe. Patricia is the author of The Piccolo Study Book and co-author with Trevor Wye of Orchestral Study Books for Flute, Alto Flute and Piccolo.
In recent years, as a result of a long-term interest in how tensions in the body affect playing, Patricia trained and qualified as a Feldenkrais practitioner. She now uses this method to help musicians overcome habitual patterns which inhibit their performance. Since 2001 Patricia has been the Feldenkrais practitioner at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin.