My Post Graduation Plan

Getting started as a professional musician

I left the RNCM in June 25 with a first class honours and a rental agreement that meant I had to make a success of choosing to stay in Manchester. My parents had kindly offered to let me move home rent-free while I worked out what I wanted to do next, but I knew I wanted to stay in Manchester and establish myself there. Parental finances did not stretch to paying for my food and lodgings, so I had to make this work. I knew I didn’t want to study for a Masters…yet (finances were a significant factor here, but definitely not the only factor).. I wanted to get out and start working.

This self-imposed pressure proved to be a great motivator. My back-of-an-envelope plan was:

Source my own professional viola.

Establish myself as a viola player in the North of England.

Continue to study under Susie Mészáros, and improve my technique and repertoire.

Continue to arrange video game music for quartets. Set up an online shop to sell  my arrangements.

Work on my social media.

Start to work with young musicians, perhaps in a music hub similar to the one I benefited from when I was younger (the Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust – NMPAT). I want to introduce kids to the instrument I am so passionate about. I am something of an ‘accidental’ viola player, having trained and prepared for conservatoire on violin, and was it not for a group needing a viola player one day, and someone thrusting the instrument into my hands, I might not be a viola player right now. Over a three year period I studied the viola alongside the violin, becoming more and more attached to the instrument and repertoire before deciding to audition on both instruments then finally making the switch just before accepting a place at the RNCM.

No regrets!

It took me a month or so to begin to establish myself in the chamber music scene. I started playing in Candlelight concerts, and weddings, with some additional orchestral  gigs too. It was steady, but not going to lie, I sometimes wondered if I would make my rent. I even took a barista course in case I needed to supplement my income! But the combination of hard work, practice and networking began to pay off and the gigs began to filter through more regularly. It felt good to be living independently doing what I love.

I even managed a housewarming party!  Adulting 101.

Part 2 of the back-of-the-envelope plan was coming together. But I still needed my own viola.