Blind from birth, Rachel was born in Bridgend, South Wales in 1994. She has received formal training on the piano since 2006 with Alison Bowring at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) where she continues to demonstrate extraordinary musicianship and piano improvisation skills as an MMus postgraduate student.

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Rachel recently completed a six month placement at the Conservatori Liceu in Barcelona under the tutelage of Alba Ventura. Rachel also has a talent for languages with fluency in both Welsh and Spanish and conversational competence in French and Italian.

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As a student at RWCMD, Rachel has enjoyed masterclasses with the Labèque Sisters, Stephen Osborne, Peter Jablonski, Angela Hewitt and Tamara Stefanovich. Additionally, she received guidance at the annual NLPS summer course at the Purcell school with renowned professors Dr Michael Schreider (Guildhall), Irina Osipova (Moscow), Irina Berkovich (Israel) and William Fong (RAM).

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Rachel's piano improvisation skills complement her love of jazz. She regularly attends the Chetham’s Piano Summer School where she studied with Nikki Iles and Douglas Finch and has also received lessons with the renowned Welsh pianist and composer Huw Warren. Having delivered several acclaimed performances in local competitions and nationally, Rachel has also played piano at a number of venues and private functions with diverse music genres including classical, jazz and contemporary/ popular culture. 

 

Rachel is a member of the British Paraorchestra and sponsored by Help Musicians UK. Rachel’s studies at the Royal Welsh College are supported by a Universal Music UK Music Sound Foundation Scholarship.