Improvisation … “The Art of Thinking and Performing music simultaneously”
(Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians)

My improvisation ability was borne from the Suzuki Method training that I received from age 3. The method trained my hearing and musical language understanding, allowing me feel at home in many different styles of music. Improvising was a natural progression from this comfort, and gives me the opportunity to converse with a wide range of artists and instrumentalists.

The Suzuki Method focuses predominantly on Classical repertoire, however the training itself allowed me to travel into other genres, and I have enjoyed working with artists in Folk, Jazz, Hindustani, Rock and, of course, ‘Classical’ including Baroque and Contemporary music.

 

I introduce and develop improvisation in my private teaching, and teach improvisation in groups. For many freelancing professional musicians, improvisation is a scary step, and in my opinion a necessary one to leap over in order to capture all the benefits and opportunities which freelancing brings. Many people recognise, as Derek Bailey discusses it in his Improvisation book, that “…any sort of strict classical training does seem to be the biggest single handicap to improvising”. I am keen to provide a platform to encourage improvisation for all musicians and instrumentalists at any age.

 

For examples of my professional work featuring improvised cello lines, see my Showreel or Contact me.