I began my musical career in the 1970s. Having studied at the City or Leeds College of music I was awarded a place on the Performers Course at the Royal Academy of Music. I was soon invited to be a founder member of the contemporary music ensemble: ‘Lontano’. As such over the following ten years I was a key player in both commissioning and performing radical new music that reflected the social, cultural and political issues of the time. I then moved on to enjoy myself as one of the few successful female session musicians of the 1980’s. As technology took over from live music in the recording scene, I focused on a serious musical career playing regularly with the BBC Symphony Orchestra including their Promenade Concerts; frequent runs as well as short notice appearances with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and touring as the Principal Oboist with the renowned Rambert Dance Company. Such invaluable experience led me to continue to explore and extend my musical career but I was confronted by a life threatening health crisis. Three years later having overcome this, with my creative partner Paul Hart we collaborated to produce a highly acclaimed original CD of oboe music based on the north-country folksongs of my home culture. I then studied in depth and mastered the art of authentic orchestral style from the turn of the 20th century, as a result I was invited to join the newly formed New Queen’s Hall Orchestra with whom I still play. In 1993 I was awarded scholarships by the City Fathers to train as a music therapist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Five years later this led to my appointment as Head of Arts Therapies at one of the UK’s three National High Secure Hospitals. Since then I have led clinical Arts Therapies service development in this field thereby enhancing the profile of the hospital as a site of international clinical excellence and contributing to treatment guidelines for the National Institute of Clinical Excellence.
