About Athena

Athena first attempted to pick up her older sister’s (much too big) violin aged 2, and essentially hasn’t put it down since. When she was finally able to hold the violin aged 5, she started having proper lessons, and within 4 years was studying at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. There she won several prizes in piano, violin, and music theory, and studied both jazz and improvisation as well as classical violin and piano.

At 14, Athena became a member of the National Youth Orchestra where she remained for 4 years, being principal 2nd Violinist and then Co-Leader in her final two.

Athena studied at Oxford University and then the Royal Academy of Music, graduating from both with distinction and outstanding marks in her final recitals. She regularly collaborates with other musicians, including performing with Erland Cooper at Timber Festival 2021, with The Last Skeptik, for whom she also sung backing vocals, with the RnB singer Nahli, with ‘The Love and Afrobeats Band’ at the Jazz Cafe and with Ed Sheeran at the BRIT Awards 2022. She also frequently performs for musicals including ‘Amelie’ on the West End in 2021, and as the violinist in the production of ‘The Last Five Years’ at the Minack Theatre in 2020, which at the time was the largest theatre production happening in the UK. 

Whilst at Oxford, she and 3 others formed an all-female country-pop band, Iris and Steel, in which Athena plays violin, sings backing vocals, and occasionally plays keys .They released their debut EP, ‘What People Do’, in November 2022 with a sold-out headline show at The Camden Club, and held a fortnightly residency at The Camden Assembly for most of 2022. They will be making their festival debut at the Alcove stage at Latitude festival this July 2023 as part of George Ezra’s selection of emerging artists. 

In January 2023 Athena moved to Dubai for 6 months to lead a resident string quartet in collaboration with Dubai Opera and Encore!Dubai. The string quartet were resident at ‘Josette’ in DIFC and alongside the artistic director Sebastian Agius and his singers and dancers, created a varied performance programme ranging from electric string trios and arrangements of traditional Arabic music to classical string quartet performances. As well as this, the quartet performed and led sessions for NYODubai in Nord Anglia International School and Dubai Opera.

Athena loves incorporating her passion for many different genres of music into her performances as well as using technology such as loop pedals, and with her highly trained ear is able to improvise in many styles from RnB, pop and jazz to EDM and even dubstep. She has perfect pitch, meaning she can improvise with a DJ off the bat and is able to take requests on the spot, creating an electric environment. In 2022 she and Naomi Wilmshurst founded the electric violin duo, AZUL, which in 2023 they expanded alongside two others, Jenny Suarez and Roksana Grobelna, to create AZUL strings, a powerful string collective who perform at luxury events and parties across the UK and internationally.

Athena is also a keen pianist, holding distinction in her dipABRSM diploma and regularly doing teaching and accompanying work. 

She plays a Bridge Aquila Green and Black Electric Violin, an Aurora 5-string electric violin, and a John Wilkinson Acoustic Violin.