Q. What does it mean to you to be signed to YCAT for pro development?

It means a great deal to me to be signed to YCAT. As a young artist who is at the early stages of developing and establishing my career, this will help gain more performance experience and come to terms with understanding the industry. YCAT really gives me the opportunity to perform and play more, but under incredibly experienced, informative and encouraging guidance

Q. What was the audition process like? 

The audition process was actually very comfortable. The first round was an online video, but also included some hypothetical programming, which was fun to think about. The atmosphere of the two in-person rounds was incredibly warm and inviting and I felt really at ease. I think for the final, playing at the Wigmore for the first time, this was really great as it made the occasion a lot less stressful.

Q. Do you have any exciting engagements coming up that you are allowed to share with us?

We are just currently establishing what my engagements will be, but I am incredibly excited to have also been announced as a YCAT – Concert Artist Guild artist, so I am very much looking forward to some engagements in America in the near future.

Q. Could you tell us about any musical ‘bucket-list’ items you have? Collaborations with specific artists/across genres, perhaps? 

Since around 16 I’ve really wanted to perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto as well as the 'Choral Fantasy'. It was a massive shame as I was supposed to have performed the 'Choral Fantasy' and then covid hit. Right now, a lot of my bucket list is rather conventional and I’m currently very passionate and looking forward to performing core repertoire. I look to artists I admire, such as Igor Levit, who perform Beethoven Sonata cycles and the 'Goldberg Variations', and I hope to one day build and share my own connection with such ground-breaking music. As I used to play the cello, Yo-Yo Ma has really inspired and impacted me from an early age, and in recent years I have really been inspired by Janine Jansen and Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha as well as composer Lera Auerbach’s compositions. So to have a chance to collaborate with any of these artists would truly be a bucket list item. I would also love to work with other mediums of art to create a different concert experience. Currently, I am really enjoying performing Mussorgsky’s 'Pictures at an Exhibition' and I would love to work with an artist to create new images for the movements, specifically representing elements from Black-British culture, a bit like the staging by Kandinsky in 1928.

Q. What are you listening to at the moment?

If I’m completely honest, I have actually not been listening to a lot of classical music recently, however when I have done it has consisted of a lot of Beethoven, listening a lot to the 5^th Piano Concerto, which I hope to dive into this Summer. I’ve also been listening to Puccini’s Madama Butterfly quite a lot. Outside of classical music, I have been listening to a lot of Fela Kuti, A Tribe Called Quest and Aaliyah lately, which I’ve gotten from my Dad. I also recently discovered The Smiths’ album The Queen Is Dead which I really enjoyed, even though British alternative rock isn’t really a genre I know much about or regularly listen to.