Clarissa Payne was born in Somerset and won places at Wells Cathedral School and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she studied with Kirsten Spratt, Sarah Newbold and Ian Clarke. She has worked all over the world as a teacher, performer and writer; from London to Kenya and from Iceland to Abu Dhabi. Clarissa has performed and recorded with classical, jazz, rock and folk musicians as well as actors and circus artists. Her articles have appeared in Classical Music, Music Teacher and Flute magazines. Her books for Music Sales include Restart Flute and GCSE Performance Pieces: Flute. She lives in Bristol where she runs a thriving teaching practice and is Visiting Teacher of Flute at Taunton School. In spare moments she plays, sings and bangs a tambourine with garage-rock band McDowell.