Polly began playing the cello at the age of 6 and since then she has become a passionate chamber musician and creative improviser. Polly graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester in 2015, with a first class honours degree, after four years of study with Emma Ferrand. Since then, Polly has travelled to The Banff Centre, Canada, where she worked as a musician in residence for 3 weeks, collaborating with other musicians from around the world and writing her own music.
As a versatile musician and a keen improviser, Polly has become passionate about creating music in healthcare settings. In 2013-2014, she completed a placement with LIME Music For Health, and took part in the Opus intensive training course in Nottingham. Polly undertook a project in the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital in 2015, making music on the dialysis ward. Polly now works as a musician for Pulse Arts CIC, taking music to hospitals such as Great Ormond Street Hospital and Broomfield Hospital.
In 2011, Polly performed Haydn’s C Major Concerto with the Junior Trinity Symphony Orchestra in the Royal Naval Chapel in Greenwich, and then again on their subsequent tour to Switzerland. Polly has received coaching from cellists including Miklos Perenyi, Ralph Kirshbaum, Frans Helmerson, Steve Doane, Petr Prause and Natalie Clein.
In 2014, Polly was highly commended in the RNCM Sir John Barbirolli Cello Prize for her interpretation of Shostakovich's Cello Sonata, and reached the finals of the RNCM Concerto Competition. As an orchestral cellist, Polly has been a member of the National Children’s Orchestra, Junior Trinity Symphony Orchestra, RNCM Symphony Orchestra, Constella Orchestra, and Arch Sinfonia.
Polly is highly passionate about chamber music, winning the Vivien Joseph Piano Trio prize whilst a member of the Hawksmoore Piano Trio at Junior Trinity. Polly is a member of The Virr String Quartet, founded at the RNCM. Within 18 months, they have reached the finals of the Schubert Prize and Hirsch Prize. The quartet won the Nossek Prize in February 2014, enabling them to participate in the Christopher Rowland Ensemble of the Year competition in June 2014.
Polly’s passion for improvisation and discovery through experimentation on the cello has led her to creating her own original music, using a loop pedal and some of Polly’s tracks have been played on BBC Radio Suffolk’s Introducing programme. Always ready for an adventure, Polly’s other recent cello escapades have included busking Scottish Reels on the streets of Montepulciano, Italy, playing Mark Summers' Julie-o on the London Underground, and taking part in a concert immersed in darkness, playing music from around the world!
Polly also loves to teach, from beginners on the cello to intermediate players, and enjoys encouraging freedom and creativity from the very start.