Alison was introduced to the cello at the age of ten after a small collection of old string instruments was found lying dormant in a school cupboard.  She rapidly progressed to her local Youth Orchestra and String Orchestra where the standard was high.
 
Alison later spent four years at Trinity College of Music (London) where she achieved an FTCL diploma.  She then gained a place at the National Centre for Orchestral Studies which provided a one-year diploma course for about seventy-five musicians.  NCOS was a wonderful and transformative experience for young orchestral musicians.  Every week started with a new concert programme and a new conductor of international standing, and students benefited from wonderful masterclasses in the art of orchestral playing.  Unfortunately, the NCOS orchestra did not survive for the long-term.
 
Needing a complete break from music in the 1990s and finding herself working in an administrative capacity for large corporations and charities, Alison discovered that she had some natural ability to adapt to and learn the new computer software that was being developed at that time, and colleagues would often benefit from her impromptu teaching in the office.  Alison subsequently completed formal teacher training, after which she spent a decade teaching computer literacy and office skills to many hundreds of unemployed people in the town of Reading where she lived at the time.
 
Nowadays, Alison enjoys playing in two amateur orchestras as well as a piano trio.  She is the Secretary of the Gorton Philharmonic Orchestra and is also the Honorary Local Representative for the Stockport branch of the ABRSM.  In recent years, Alison has enjoyed teaching the cello and derives great satisfaction from seeing pupils achieve success in performance, exams and competitions.