At the minute, I’m playing keyboards with Wicked, and I’m also a cover conductor.

Day-to-day, I’ll either do one or two shows, and sometimes I’ll get to conduct the show. Sometimes I’ll take cast rehearsals where I teach the cast harmonies. I also teach at a lot of drama schools on the side as well. I do lots of arranging and orchestrating in my own time for different projects and singers as well.

I personally get the most enjoyment out of the variety of the work. You have to have a versatile set of skills, I think, to be a musician. One day I might be orchestrating, or arranging, or playing shows, or sight-reading audition piano, or teaching.

I started flute lessons in 2000/2001, then I joined the Holme Vallley Junior Wind Band on Saturday mornings at Holmfirth High School. At the first rehearsal, I was so nervous to get a music stand that I ended up just having to read the music from my lap!

After that, I progressed through the Intermediate and Senior Wind Bands with Holme Valley. Then, at 14, I auditioned for what was then known as KYSO (now Musica Youth Orchestra) which was the Youth Orchestra for Kirklees, and I did that for 4 years.

I was lucky enough to get a scholarship that subsidised my lessons, and allowed me to participate in the Musica Theory and Aural central groups. Musica Kirklees really provided me with a full-rounded music education, and I am so grateful to them for that.

I enjoyed 2 tours with the Youth Orchestra; we went to Saltzburg in Austria and then to Provence in the South of France. I remember also going on tour with one of the music centre Swing Bands to Cologne in 2012. On our tour to Provence, I had the huge privilege of playing the piano solo in Rhapsody in Blue on a Steinway piano. I was so touched and moved by that – it really was an unbelievable experience. I’m always thinking of that and am so grateful to Musica Kirklees for those opportunities.

Another great memory I have from my time with Musica Kirklees was going to the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Schools Proms. I had the privilege of playing an opening flute solo in the pitch black on the main stage, and it was such an amazing experience that I look back on very fondly.

The obvious one for me is that they taught me how to play in an ensemble. For me, music’s a very social activity. I thoroughly enjoy making music with other people – it’s a beautiful thing. You get a lot of personal satisfaction out of playing and getting better at your instrument, but then when you play with other people, you have a shared musical experience. That’s definitely the main enjoyment and fulfilment I get from music.

Also, I remember the music education it gave me was brilliant. In Youth Orchestra, we used to do sectionals before rehearsals. They could be brutal, and had very high standards, but they made me a much better flute player and just a better musician overall.

• Take any opportunity to branch out, either by joining a new ensemble or trying a new instrument! I wish I had taken up more instruments or even just had a go. 

 Being a flute player as I was, I could play in flute choirs and orchestras, but if I had played the saxophone, I could have joined the jazz bands as well.

• Play in a variety of musical styles as it opens up a lot of opportunities.