I come from an artistic family. My mother, Margaret Stallard, was an actress and my father, a professional musician. I have two older sisters and a twin brother – all of whom are professional musicians! Like myself, they have in turn married musicians and bred more musicians – there are now three generations of musicians in my family!
Having been immersed in music since childhood I realised in my thirties that I wanted to learn about something else alongside my performing career! As I had already spent a year living in Germany, I decided on my return to the UK to continue studying the language. This became more serious than I had ever intended and it culminated in my reading for a degree in German Language & Literature at Birkbeck College, London University. To my complete astonishment, at the end of my studies I was awarded a First Class Degree, and the Alice Emily Bithell Academic Prize based on the results of the BA Honours Examinations in German across the whole of London University.
