Biography

Born in New Hampshire, USA, in a small university town, Cecilia began her violin studies at the age of 3, learning through the Suzuki method until the age of 7, when she joined the Longy School of Music Preparatory Programme in Boston, Massachusetts. She soon moved to the New England Conservatory Preparatory Programme at the age of 9, studying with Mark Lakirovich. Since 2014, she has studied under the tutelage of Dr. Felix Andrievsky throughout secondary school and conservatoire. In 2016, she joined the Royal College of Music Junior Department (RCMJD) alongside her academic education at Queen's College London, where she was a Music Scholar. Cecilia earned her Bachelor's degree with First Class Honours from the Royal College of Music. She went on to complete an MSc in Cognitive Science and Psychology, specializing in Music Cognition, at Goldsmiths University, earning a distinction. Her research focused on timbre and musical emotion perception, developing a novel test to explore how musical timbre conveys emotional information. 

Since being awarded First Prize in the Junior category of the Cremona International String Competition at the age of 11, Cecilia has enjoyed giving performances in many countries at venues including the Museo de Stradivarius in Cremona, Italy and Cadogan Hall in London as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also performed in and organised Chamber and Orchestral concerts at venues such as Castello di Miramare and Civico Museo Revoltella in Turino, Italy, St. James’ Sussex Church with the student-run Cavatina orchestra, Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. During her studies, she performed in various orchestral concerts and masterclasses at the Royal College of Music under the direction of world class conductors and performers including Jac van Steen, Maxim Vengerov, Rafael Payare, Vasily Petrenko, Chloé van Soeterstède and Martyn Brabbins. Cecilia has also participated in various music festivals including Pro Corda (UK), the Cremona International String Festival and New Virtuosi Mastercourse (Italy)