About the Artist
Biography
Victoria began her musical journey at the age of 8 studying both flute and piano. By age 14 she had achieved grade 8 on the flute. Victoria is an accomplished musician having held the position of Bristol City Wait and became the official minstrel for the Mayor of Bristol for a year. During this time she performed in the Colston Hall, St George's and the Lord Mayor's Chapel. By age 15 she had gained a place in Bristol Pre-Conservatoire and a seat in the Bristol School's Philharmonia Orchestra, where she progressed to principal flute within a year. Victoria has also previously been invited to play with the Orchestra of the Swan.
Victoria has graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire with a First Class Honours degree in 2021. During the BMus performance course, she specialised in flute playing and music teaching.
She has learnt under a number of top flautists including: Susan Milan, Fiona Kelly, Eliza Marshall, Anna Pope and Christopher Green. Victoria has set up numerous ensembles; including FlautingIt, the Wren Trio, Lumos Duo and a Flute and Harp Duo. She is also principle flute in the Cinematic Syncopations Orchestra.
Victoria is very active in the music community, running various projects across London and helping to transition many of these into exciting online courses. One of her most notable projects is the MusicOnWheels Brent project, taking place from November 2019 to August 2020. This was a 3 term project teaching music to children in disadvantaged communities on a specially renovated double decker bus. As part of MusicOnWheels, Victoria has also helped create several 8-week online courses for children across London.
She has also helped with the running of Animate Online and ran her own courses as Notate Create Innovate. More information can be found out about this on the projects page.
Victoria has run a number of courses at Blackheath Conservatoire including Intro To Flute and Fantastic Flutes holiday sessions and the Flute Choir and Play! Flute term time courses. Most recently, she has taken on the position of Roundabout Programme Administrator alongside her flute teaching on the Roundabout course. This is a unique one-year introduction where children ages 5-7 try out six different instrument groups with specialist teachers. This is the most popular and longest running course at Blackheath Conservatoire, teaching 270 students a year.
Victoria has also been busy setting up and producing concerts with Air on A Harp String and online content with FlautingIt Facebook and YouTube pages.
Awards:
December 2021 - Received the Vivian Prindl Outreach Prize
September 2017 - Awarded the Nora Kilip trophy for Music
October 2014 - The Diana Lee Prize for a Woodwind Player
2014, 2015 and 2016 - Awarded music prize from Colston’s Girls’ School
Competitions:
April 2022 - Syrinx International Flute Competition - Placed 3rd in Open Advanced Category
March 2016 - Thornbury Eisteddfod winner of 15 – 17 year old woodwind
April 2016 - Reached the Two Moors Competition final
October 2015 - Woodwind winner BCCS Interhouse Music Competition open final
March 2012 - Bristol Festival of Music, Ensemble, First Place with Distinction
Teaching
Victoria has graduated from Trinity Laban Conservatoire with a First Class Honours degree. She is still largely based around the Greenwich, Lewisham and Blackheath areas but takes students from any part of London. Victoria is a friendly, hardworking and creative individual with a passion for all things music. She enjoys all genres and can play and teach anything from contemporary to Baroque. She also regularly plays other instruments in the flute family (Piccolo, Alto flute and Bansuri).
From a young age, Victoria was involved with teaching others and sharing her love for music, leading flute ensembles at her school and helping younger students with their studies. She then went on to work in a primary school as a lunch time supervisor and has volunteered in church primary groups.
Victoria has previously participated in a collaborative arts projects in a local special needs secondary school. She went in once a week to work with them on their music and creative skills which culminated in a performance at the end of the term. She is committed to inclusivity in her practice which she is currently exploring further in the East London Sound Connections project.
Victoria has also got experience teaching one-to-one private tuition with varying ages of student for flute, recorder and piano, and has previously entered students for ABRSM exams in which they attained very high grades.
Within Blackheath Conservatoire, Victoria has run a number of her own courses: Intro to Flute and Fantastic Flutes which have been very popular over the holidays. She has also taught on the Roundabout, Play! Flute courses and takes Flute Choir for term time group lessons, helping children and adults progress their playing through all levels.
Recently, Victoria has joined the Lewisham Music team and has taught across 4 different primary schools in the Lewisham borough. She teaches a combination of whole class recorder, small group flute, saxophone and clarinet.
"I am an encouraging and enthusiastic person and love to see the progress that students make each week. I will help my students set achievable goals and devise plans on how to get them there in creative and enjoyable ways. Using their strengths, I will tailor the lessons to the individual's needs and teach in the style that best suits them, whether it's through graded exams, new activities, extended techniques or playing folk for fun!"