What has been your favourite musical experience so far?

My favourite musical experience so far was performing at the Sendai International Music Competition in 2019. It was my first appearance in a prominent international competition, and I had an absolute blast performing Bach and Prokofiev Violin Concertos, among other pieces. The real thrill of it was the feeling of comfort and passion I found on that stage - particularly in the first round, I felt able to be myself while performing in a way that I hadn’t quite found before. I also just loved meeting an international community of incredible violinists and musicians - it was so inspiring. I have two more international competitions coming up now, and I can’t wait to see what opportunities for growth they will bring!

What brought you and Daniel together?

It’s my pleasure to be performing with Daniel King Smith for the first time in this concert! There is so much to do for both the violin and piano in Schubert’s Fantasie and Saint-Saens’ sonata, so this is very much a baptism of fire for the two of us. I’m so excited!

​

How have you found the last year, largely devoid of concerts?

The last year has been tough. Having a series of exciting upcoming performances pulled out from underneath my feet was really upsetting and actually quite disorientating. Though I suppose it gave me a bit more time to revise for my finals at Oxford! It also gave me time to stop, reflect, and grow - in the last year, I have been able to reevaluate my approach to violin playing as an individual, pleasure-based art form and as a profession, and to find a healthier balance between the two. I have been able to choose my repertoire freely, practice almost meditatively, and grow as a musician, performer, and individual. I have a much deeper understanding of myself after this last year, and that has enabled me to find new heights of expression while playing.

​

Tell us a bit about the programme you’ll be performing at the Festival. Why are you playing these works?

I absolutely love all of the pieces I am playing. Schubert’s Fantasie in C major is an enormous duo piece for violin and piano, presenting many musical challenges. Studying it has helped my musicianship develop hugely, thinking about for example the relationship between articulation, phrasal structure, narrative arc, and chamber aesthetics. It isn’t played as often as other chamber works by Schubert because of its difficulty, its elusive kind of magic. It also requires endurance! There are no breaks between movements; the piece runs continuously for 21 minutes. It’s an incredibly beautiful, moving, and triumphant work.

The Saint-Saens sonata runs to similar scale, but is also totally different. It’s incredibly French, with a brooding opening movement leading straight into a gorgeous slow movement, before the glittering scherzo leads to one of the most exciting and fun finales in the chamber repertoire. What’s really amazing about this piece is the simplicity of it - Saint-Saens uses very transparent textures and formal ideas to convey something incredibly impactful, moving, and enjoyable. He also referred to it as a ‘Heldensonate’, denoting its difficulty for both violinist and pianist. It’s quite the rollercoaster! 

I chose William Grant Still’s African Dancer and Florence Price’s Adoration as two shorter works to punctuate the middle of the programme for several reasons. Despite being twentieth-century pieces, they both have strikingly different idioms. Yet they still fundamentally connect to what it meant to be a Black American in the first half of the last century. African Dancer is a piece that responds to a sculpture by queer Black artist Richmond Barthé (both he and Grant Still were heavily involved in the Harlem Renaissance). It is fiery, defiant and dynamic, using jazz harmonies and ever-shifting textures and melodies to convey the vibrancy of the dancer’s life force. Adoration, on the other hand, is a beautifully simple piece which powerfully evokes a sense of what it meant to be a deeply religious American Black woman in the 1930s. With a steadily moving texture and spacious harmonies, it creates a sense of grandeur and intimacy all at once, while the quietly bluesy middle section conveys a sense of profound sadness. 

This last year has shown us more than ever the importance of representation in accepting diversity and multiculturalism. My programme consists of music entirely by either queer, Black, or female composers, all of whom will appear in my upcoming recording with Linn Records as part of my Bicentenary Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. With my debut disc, I want to take social responsibility through my violin playing, for I believe music can have such power and cultural agency that it can change the world for the better. This programme is thus very personal, as a taster of the work I hope to do in the coming years.