ABOUT ME
My musical journey, the piano, and teaching…
I was fortunate as a child to grow up in a family where academic study was encouraged and the exploration of new ideas, no matter how adventurous, was always supported.
My older brother was a chorister and when he began to learn the piano and cello, I was desperate to learn to play the piano as well.
By the time I’d started my PGCE, I knew that teaching was the right career for me. I distinctly remember the feeling I had when I was on my first placement with an infant class – it was like coming home.
After my initial teacher-training in Scotland, I ventured further afield to work as a class teacher in schools in the Middle East and then Berlin. In 2000, I returned to the UK to teach in primary schools across Cheshire.
Out of the blue, in 2011 my nephew, who was then only five years old, asked me to teach him how to play the piano. I soon discovered that I loved teaching music just as much as I loved working in a primary school.
Word spread quickly that I was teaching piano, flute and music theory; adults, as well as children, began coming to me for lessons.
The following year I began accompanying the village community choir, ‘Ashton Sings’. The thrill I got from helping others to discover the joy of music was the blue touch-paper to my own further education.
In 2013 I followed my life-long ambition of studying full-time for a Music degree at Manchester University. I graduated in July, 2016 and continued at Manchester to achieve a Master’s degree in Musicology the following year.
My pupils range in age from five to seventy-five and come to me from a variety of backgrounds and with a range of needs and desires.
Some children are fascinated by the beautiful sounds that can be made by simply pressing keys; many adults come to me after a long break in learning and are excited about taking up the piano again.
Whatever stage my pupils are at, I believe that we are all on a musical journey, never standing still and my story is testimony to the fact that it really is never too late to learn.
I hope that I can be a key figure in helping you to achieve your goals.