Heather received her early cello tuition from Euan Murdoch and Emma Goodbehere. As a young cellist she performed solos as part of the Michael Monaghan Foundation Young Artists’ Programme and also a concerto with the Wellington Chamber Orchestra. At age sixteen, she was awarded ‘Most Promising’ at the Gisborne International Music Competition. As part of her New Zealand music upbringing, Heather loved summers in Nelson, playing in the Adam Summer School from the age of thirteen and also later the 2015 Troubadour quartet.
From the age of sixteen, Heather travelled to Europe for masterclass academies, summer schools, and extensive individual cello tuition. Cello professors from these studies included, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Claudio Bohorquez and Philippe Muller. Heather has also enjoyed masterclass tuition and further lessons from Frans Helmerson, Gautier Capuçon, Lynn Harrell, and Nicolas Altsaedt.
Heather then returned to the southern hemisphere for her Bachelor of Music at NZSM and continued at the Sydney Conservatorium with Umberto Clerici. At both universities she also studied and performed as a baroque cellist. Heather was the NZSM Concerto Competition winner in 2013 and a finalist for the 2015 Sydney Conservatorium Concerto Competition. The following year she was awarded Second Place and Audience Choice at the NZ National Concerto Competition.
She is now based in Wellington as a contract cellist for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and often plays with the Auckland Philharmonia and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.