Composer

I started composing at the age of twelve, thanks to my amazing friend Jay Richardson. He is a talented composer and pianist, so please click here to read about him and listen to his music. I have also studied with Kate Honey, Ewan Campbell, Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Simon Speare.

My method of composing is very strongly imagining the pitches I wish to be played or sung, both melodically and harmonically away from any instrument. As a synaesthetic musician, I also think about the colours I wish to hear in the music and, much like a visual artist, how these are blended to convey the meaning of the piece. I write the pitches down in Braille music notation and then dictate them to an amanuensis, who transcribes them onto a notation software.

My music is inspired by a wide range of philosophical, Buddhist, environmental and synaesthetic themes. The use and effect of silence in music fascinate me, perhaps as a result of my love of Buddhism.

I was an Aldeburgh Young Musician between 2015 and 2016 but I had to relinquish my place when I was offered a place at a Junior Conservatoire. In 2016, I auditioned for the Junior departments of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music, and was very surprised and honoured to receive offers from all three establishments. I am now studying at the latter as a Principal Study Composer and Second Study Recorder player. From September 2017, I will be studying Flute as Second Study with Andrea Charles and continuing with Composition as First Study.

In 2016, I auditioned for a place as a composer with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and I was successful in gaining a place under the tutelage of Larry Goves and Laurie Tompkins. I had to re-audition again in 2017 as the orchestra is recruited anew each year and I was successful in gaining a place for the second time. In 2017, I was highly commended with my piece Longing for Equinox in the BBC Inspire Composers’ Competition.

On 6th January 2017, I was interviewed live by BBC Radio Cambridgeshire to talk about The Cambridge Young Composer of the Year Competition which I won in November 2016. You can listen to the radio interview here. I am currently working on my Classic FM/RPS commissioned piece for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. I am writing for flute, harp, clarinet and percussion. My piece will be premiered on 23rd September in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonics Music Room and broadcast live as part of the series Discover the Classics at 11.00 am. Click here to book tickets if you want to attend the Premiere of my piece.

My pieces have been performed in Cambridge at the following venues: West Road Concert Hall (by The Hermes Experiment, Britten Sinfonia, The Ligeti Quartet, and Dr Sextet) as well as at Great St Mary's University Church, Jesus College Chapel, St Catharine's College Chapel and at the Guildhall. I also had one of my pieces performed overseas at the Ladies Presbyterian College in Melbourne, Australia and within the UK, at the Royal College of Music, the Southbank Centre, Handel House and Snape Maltings.

I am delighted to have been declared the overall winner of the Royal College of Music Junior Department Joan Weller 2017 Composition Prize as well as being awarded the Humphrey Searle Composition prize in 2018.

Here is a link to a recent broadcast from Cambridge TV about my commissioned piece for Classic FM in partnership with the Royal Philharmonic Society. My piece starts at 4 mns 24 seconds: https://www.cambridge-tv.co.uk/7-episode-8