Kerry Downing

Kerry started learning the piano at age 5 and started saxophone at age 11 which prompted a love of playing all styles including classical, pop, jazz and soul.

As a teenager Kerry played in the Hertfordshire County Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Hertfordshire County Youth wind Orchestra as well as making a guest appearance playing for a recording of the Shostakovich Jazz Suite with the Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra.

After completing a degree in Radio Film and television with Music, specialising in performance Kerry has played in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, The Festival Hall, The Barbican, The Soho Jazz Festival and toured around Europe performing in Big Bands, Soul groups and Pop fusion. She worked for a number of years within the film industry as an assistant film editor working on Pop videos and commercials with artists such as Bjork, S Club 7 and Massive Attack as well as working with the award winning arranger of Les Miserable John Cameron in his studio preparing music for session musicians and the orchestra pits for the West End musicals. She can more recently can be seen gigging locally in venues around Ware.

For the last 15 years, Kerry has been teaching piano, saxophone, flute and clarinet within local schools in Hertfordshire with her students taking exams from grade 1 to grade 8 using ABRSM, Trinity and Rock School exam boards and is studying a PGCE in further education teaching Media and Music Theory. She has a keen interest in what motivates people to learn how to play a musical instrument and tailors her lessons to include the genre of music the student is most interested in.