Early Childhood
I had the immense blessing of being brought up in a musical family. My incredibly talented and hard-working mother, who herself is a classical musician, raised my siblings and me up surrounded by music of all kinds. I had my debut performance at the age of 2 on the woodblock with two of my sisters singing the children’s Christmas song ‘Little Donkey’. I continued on the percussion instruments and became the drummer of our family band in our performances to various community gatherings.
At the age of 6, while living in South East Asian, I decided that I wanted to give the piano ago. After a few initial lessons from my oldest sister, my mother began teaching me this wonderful instrument. I still clearly remember the excitement of those early years at the piano, the feeling of satisfaction and achievement with every little piece learned. My mother had the foresight not only to put me through the exams, but also to organise concerts for many of her students to perform to each other regularly, making us accustomed to the pressure and exhilaration of performing. I also regularly performed with small and large ensembles, improving my listening and teamwork skills.
School
At the age of 15, after achieving a distinction at Grade 8, I began learning my first complete Beethoven Sonata: The Moonlight Sonata. This was a particularly special piece for me as I had heard a recording of it several years prior, and longed to reach the point of playing it myself. While now I realise that this piece was technically beyond me, the concert in which I performed it is to this day one of my fondest memories.
After moving to the UK in 2016 I continued my musical education. I completed an ABRSM Diploma in performance, giving me the chance to dive deeper into key piano repertoire and understand more about the background of certain pieces and composers. I studied A Level Music at St George’s School Harpenden giving me the opportunity to begin studying a much wider range of musical genres and styles than I had previously. This was also when I began composing!
University
After school, I went on to study Music at the University of York. Here I was able to fully throw myself into music in a way in which had been impossible while in school. I was able to try out a huge variety of different musical styles, joining a gamelan ensemble, a chamber choir, accompanying many soloists playing classical and musical theatre styles, and managing and singing in a gospel choir. In addition to these various endeavours, my two primary focuses were composition and solo piano performance. I took several modules in which I learned how to approach performing repertoire from specific periods and composers. My technique improved massively here under the tutelage of Jakob Fichert and Peter Seymour.
Music College
After graduating from university with a First Class Honours degree and receiving a scholarship from the Royal Northern College of Music, I moved to Manchester to continue my studies. Here I studied with John Gough, one of the longest running piano teachers in the RNCM, and my musical understanding and communication of the music I was playing grew greatly. This was also when I started teaching to a much greater capacity. I had taught a couple of pupils for several years prior, but here I started teaching through a music academy and took on 25 weekly students. In addition to this, I also took part in a teaching module as part of my masters degree where I was introduced to important teaching techniques and learned to critically evaluate my methods.
Present
Since completing my Masters’, I have been working as a freelance pianist, doing a mixture of teaching and performing. My teaching practice compromises of both private teaching from my flat in Bracknell and teaching the piano in schools. I have almost 40 weekly students, ranging from complete beginners to advanced diploma level students and from age 5 to adult. I regularly perform as a soloist in lunchtime concerts in well established concert series such as Toad Lane Concerts, Bury Parish Church Lunchtime Concerts, Music at Mike’s, and York Unitarian Lunchtime Concerts. These performances have enabled me to continue expanding my repertoire and technical ability. In addition to this I have also established a piano quartet with a group of musicians I met during my Masters’ and have been organising several yearly concerts with them.
