Hello all! Having officially come on board at a the time when no-one can visit the shop, I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself properly.
About me
I am originally from the Highlands. Tim and I met in our first year at the Royal College of Music, where I studied the oboe with Professors David Theodore, John Anderson and Gareth Hulse. At this stage I think I know more about violins than I ever did about the oboe…
After graduation, I joined the amazing Teach First programme, training to teach secondary music in a busy inner London academy and then becoming Head of Music there.
During this time, Tim worked as a professional player and for a number of specialist auction houses, eventually setting up our business in 2015. Once our elder son was born we decided to move to Scotland, partly to be closer to my family and partly because we thought that Edinburgh would be a brilliant place to have a violin shop.
I worked as a music teacher at St George’s School for Girls whilst keeping a very close eye on the business, eventually deciding to make a move to working with Tim full-time after the birth of our second son. I’m delighted that I did: despite the pandemic making it a fairly risky time to make such a decision, I have loved every minute of getting to know our brilliant clients.
My role in the business
Officially, I am co-director of our business, managing the running of the shop. A lot of my time is spent managing our website and social media, as well as keeping on top of all of the paperwork that running a business seems to generate, however the best bit of my job is helping musicians to find their ideal instrument.
As a teacher, I have seen first-hand the impact that the right instrument can make on progress, as well as the frustration that comes from trying to learn on an instrument that doesn’t work well enough to allow this. Tim and I both enjoy spending time with our youngest clients and seeing the impact that the right instrument has on their enjoyment and learning.
Running our violin shop together has been a dream of ours for a long time and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to work alongside Tim, meeting inspiring musicians from all walks of life and helping them to find their perfect match. I look forward to meeting you soon!