In August 2025, CSM Vice-President Robyn Nuthall sat down in London with Dr. Natalie Jones to hear how a foundation in music at CSM was the start of a lifetime of musical joy, friendship, and way of thinking.
Musical beginnings
At just five years old, Natalie began learning Suzuki violin at CSM. She credits the Suzuki method’s listeningfirst approach with giving her nearperfect pitch and a lifelong ability to play by ear. “Even to this day, if I hear a song on the radio I can sit down at the piano and knock it out.”
Learning by ear supported confident sightreading skills and prepared her to work her way up through the various CSM orchestras with her peers: “It was really social — a whole cohort of us went right through together. You don’t necessarily get that in other ways of learning.” Learning by ear also helped with other instruments, as did having a secure basis in violin: “It’s like learning a language. I picked up the piano but never took lessons and, in my teens, I had a flirtation with the guitar because it seemed really cool — but it was always violin for me.” She plays a Roth; the same one she’s had since she graduated to a full-size instrument. She likes its homely feel and knows it will be with her forever.
Natalie joined CSM’s Christchurch Youth Orchestra (CYO) at the age of 14, and played for seven years under multiple conductors, including the muchloved Luke di Somma. CYO tours took her across New Zealand and twice to Australia, performing in venues ranging from formal concert halls to rural community spaces where entire towns turned out to listen. She also played with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and with the National Youth Orchestra, absolutely loving the challenges of these quality organisations.
The National Youth Orchestra & A Love Affair with Rachmaninov
The New Zealand National Youth Orchestra (NYO) had been a dream of Natalie’s for years. She first auditioned in 2008 without success, but in 2010 she got in. She remembers that when the news came, she appeared high on the player list announcement. However, assuming the listing was in random order, she was not expecting to find that she was in seat four of the first violins. She recalls a rather colourful note to self: “Oh [@##$$] I should have practised more!”
That year’s programme was Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, a John Adams piece, and Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. The leap from the familiar energy of the CYO to the NYO’s higher technical demands created what she calls a “fiery combination” that started a lifelong love of Rachmaninov and when, in 2011 under conductor James Judd, they tackled Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2, it deepened her connection to a composer she had never even performed before joining NYO. “James really helped us understand the emotion in that piece. It was incredibly moving.” That same season included a dazzling collaboration with international organ virtuoso Cameron Carpenter at both Wellington and Auckland Town Halls — a performer Natalie remembers as flamboyant, meticulous, and unforgettable. During these seasons she was also performing with the CYO, moving from second to first violins in the CSO, and pursuing her university studies in physics, maths, and law. “It really felt like I had a second life. My first life was studying and academia, and my second life was just music — about half my time was completely consumed by it.”
Music, Maths, and Climate Change
Natalie’s academic path saw her earning undergraduate degrees in physics, maths, and law at the University of Canterbury and gave her an opportunity to exploit the natural parallels among the disciplines. Not only are the logic of mathematics and the structure of music related, but “Music and maths both teach you to think in a certain way.” That mental discipline has shaped her life, sharpening her problemsolving and analytical skills.
After graduating, she identified a niche at the intersection of science and policy in international environmental law thanks to a climate paper she had done in her physics degree, an international environmental law paper she took as part of her law degree, and a recognition of global fragility following the earthquakes. Keen to progress this new direction, Natalie applied to leading institutions worldwide and secured a place at the University of Cambridge to study for a master’s in international law. She then completed a doctorate in the same field examining indigenous peoples’ participation in global policy-making. Following her degree, she got a job at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, which “studies all sorts of crazily risky and dangerous things, like climate change, like nuclear war, and artificial intelligence gone wrong, asteroids and super volcanoes. The whole spectrum of really bad stuff.” At the same time, she was writing her award-winning book based on her PhD: Self-Determination as Voice, The Participation of Indigenous Peoples in International Governance, published by Cambridge University Press in 2024.
While at Cambridge, Natalie joined the Cambridge University Orchestra (then known as Cambridge University Musical Society Symphony Orchestra) alongside three other former CYO members: James Leily, a horn player and now an assistant professor at Durham University; violinist Edward Linscott, now doing a postdoc at Cambridge; and Max Wilkinson, a trombone player, doing a postdoc at MIT. “They were all at Cambridge in the same year as me, and we were all in this orchestra, and I thought this is bloody strange but wonderful!”. The standard of musicianship was extraordinarily high, and the mix of academic and artistic excellence made for an inspiring environment. Natalie thrived on the dual challenge of balancing PhD research with orchestral commitments because, for her, the analytical discipline of academic research and the emotional expression of music are two halves of the same whole, each sharpening the other.
The Lasting Joy of Music
Natalie recently moved to London and is working as a policy advisor at the Institute for Sustainable Development. She sings in a local choir called Victoria Park Singers which recently performed a choral adaptation of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (“I would have never guessed that would have been a thing”) arranged by British composer Joanna Forbes Le Strange using poems that perfectly fit the music, the mood, and the theme of each movement. It’s incredible. At times you would think it was the words that came first not the music. It’s that level of perfection. I highly recommend looking it up. Although I haven’t had an orchestra since I’ve moved to London, it’s on my list of things I need to remedy. There are plenty of amateur orchestras in London so it’s almost the problem of abundance.
