What do you remember of your first time playing with the SCO?

My first project with the SCO was Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Richard Egarr and an amazing line up of soloists back in 2023. I remember being blown away by the sound and blend of the orchestra. I loved how engaged every single musician was and how everyone absolutely goes for it during rehearsals and concerts - it's surprisingly rare and extremely exciting.

What would your advice be to anyone wishing to take up your instrument?

The viola is a fantastic instrument to take up. You get the best of all the worlds - luscious harmonies, brilliant bass lines and glorious lyrical moments. As a viola player you have to switch between these roles all the time, you’re the glue that holds everyone together. Also, some of the best composers play(ed) the viola themselves and so we often get really satisfying lines to play. My only advice to anyone taking up the viola would be to find a chamber music group or an orchestra and make music with other people, that's where the joy is. We’re so lucky to have a world of life-changingly good music out there to play so find the groups that work for you and do it.

Which concerts have you especially enjoyed this Season, and why?

I’ve been looking forward to lots of our concerts this Season, particularly the Nutcracker because I’d somehow not done it before. I’m really glad to have discovered this absolute gem for the first time, especially with Maxim. I'm also really looking forward to working with our visiting artists and soloists - we have such a high calibre of guests that come in to direct and work with us, it's very inspiring and I think we've had some very exciting projects.

If you weren’t a musician, where do you think your career might have led you?

I’ve always been quite interested in history and was lucky to enjoy visiting lots of Iron Age forts and historical sites on the South Downs as a child, so maybe I would have looked into being a curator or going into archeology.

Do you have a happy place?

Well, I’m writing these answers from a cosy little cottage on the Isle of Arran with a roaring fire and a glass of red wine so I’m thinking possibly here?