Q&A: Mahaliah Edwards

ME: I have a Caribbean background, so music is embedded in my culture – there was always music playing at home, and I grew up in a Pentecostal church where music was inherent to the denomination. My musical upbringing split into two halves: I had my informal music education at home and at church, where we would be singing three-part harmonies and so on, and I had formal music lessons that completely juxtaposed this. I initially had piano lessons in primary school, and then I began having lessons with the local music service in Nottingham; by the age of 16, I was attending the Purcell School of Music, playing the violin. This was a significant change for me, as prior to this I was learning more for the love of music rather than being trained with the more academic knowledge that would help me become a professional musician. This meant that I had lots of gaps in my musical education, but I was very driven in learning more and took this opportunity with a positive attitude. After completing Sixth Form there, I attended the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where I studied for four years and taught on the side. After a few years of teaching in Nottingham post-graduation, I then moved to Surrey and started working for Music Masters while also working as a freelance musician.