She started playing the violin at the age of five and appeared in the musical Annie in a school production, playing the title role. She studied the violin at the junior department of the Royal College of Music in London, and then at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester where she won the Ida Caroll String Prize. She then gained a full scholarship to the Royal College of Music where she studied with Howard Davis. She also spent two summers studying at prestigious music schools in the United States.