About
Performing | Teaching | Coaching
In January 2024, Lowri joined the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as Section Leader Second Violin, following seventeen years with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, where she was appointed Co-Leader in recognition of her contribution both on and beyond the concert platform. Throughout her orchestral career she has regularly invited to guest with orchestras across the UK in both leader and principal positions.
Alongside performing, Lowri has become increasingly interested in the wider systems and relationships that underpin artistic excellence. From 2024-6 she was part of the Artistic Think Tank, CBSO’s artistic committee, and managed Centre Stage, the CBSO's player-led chamber music series, overseeing planning, musician liaison and project delivery.
Teaching and coaching are an important part of Lowri's professional life. She was a member of the violin faculty at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama from 2015-2024 and holds a MSc in Performance Science from the Royal College of Music, where her research explored the non-playing qualities orchestral leaders believe are most important to lead an orchestra effectively.
Through her role at WNO and in conjunction with RWCMD she was responsible for expanding the content of the WNO placement programme beyond side-by-side projects to include player-led sessions on relevant areas such as audition preparation, job applications and different types of mock auditions in order to offer a more comprehensive training for those students wishing to join the profession.
She is an EMCC-accredited coach, having trained through the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and has undertaken team coaching at foundation level with David Clutterbuck through the EMCC. For more information on individual coaching, please see my coaching page.
Lowri has a particular interest in helping musicians develop sustainable, fulfilling careers through thoughtful reflection, practical support and effective communication. From 2022-4 she ran a series of seminars for the RWCMD postgraduate pathway orchestral specialists covering psychological, emotional and social skills. These seminars were the starting point for a new online programme coming soon. More information can be found here.
A graduate of Selwyn College, Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music, Lowri was awarded the DipRAM prize and led the European Union Youth Orchestra. She is an alumna of the Association of British Orchestras' Find Your Way leadership programme and was recently elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in recognition of her contribution to the profession.
“Music has been at the heart of my professional life for more than twenty years. As a violinist, I have been fortunate to work in orchestral leadership positions, collaborating with exceptional colleagues and experiencing first-hand the trust, preparation and teamwork that lie behind outstanding performances.
Alongside performing, I have become increasingly interested in the broader world that makes artistic excellence possible. I gain as much satisfaction from supporting people, improving communication and helping projects run well as I do from performing itself.
That interest in people has shaped many of the decisions I have made throughout my career. It led me to complete my MSc in Performance Science in 2020, to then train as a coach through the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and to explore the non-playing qualities of orchestral leadership through my research. More recently it has developed into a growing interest in organisational culture, leadership and the ways in which thoughtful planning and communication support creative work.
My work now brings together several strands of experience: performing, coaching, education, writing and an increasing involvement in arts organisations and projects. I hope to make a positive contribution to the people at the heart of the performance as well as to the performance itself.”