In July 2018 Dayna graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with a First Class Honors Degree in BMus Violin Performance. She is now currently studying for her Masters in MMus Orchestral Performance, also at the Welsh College where she is currently studying with Lowri Porter, the Assistant Leader of the Welsh National Opera.
During her undergraduate studies, Dayna also began studying Baroque violin with Rachel Podger and has now freelanced on both modern and Baroque instruments with ensembles including Welsh National Opera, Welsh Baroque Orchestra, English Symphony Orchestra, British Sinfonietta, Cardiff Sinfonietta and the Bristol Ensemble. In April 2018, Dayna also joined the Pro Youth Philharmonia orchestra for its inaugural tour around the UK.
Dayna has also played in a wide variety of ensembles at her music college since beginning her studies. Of these, she has been the leader for the Chamber Orchestra, Concert Orchestra and Senior String Ensemble and in January she also lead the Royal Welsh String Soloists in a performance directed by cellist Pieter Wispelway. Dayna has also taken part in placement schemes with both the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Welsh National Opera. She also has experience of playing in pit orchestras for musicals, including Miss Saigon, Les Miserables and Jekyll and Dayna also enjoys interacting and collaborating with the composers at the college and has been featured on a number of their recordings playing contemporary works, some of which are included in the media section of this profile.
Alongside orchestral playing, Dayna enjoys playing in chamber ensembles and was a part of the Rosea String Quartet, formed in 2014 and made up of musicians from the College, who received masterclasses from the London Haydn Quartet, Allegri Quartet and the Emerson Quartet and played at a number of weddings and functions at venues including both Cardiff and Caerphilly Castles. In 2016 they recorded a short segment for BBC's the One Show and in August 2017 they played for the opening of the "Weeping Window" exhibition at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. As well as her quartet Dayna was also a member of the Ballare Piano Trio. They received coaching from musicians including Lucy Gould and Benjamin Frith of the Gould Piano Trio. In 2017 were selected to take part in the McGrenery Chamber Prize at the Royal Welsh College after achieving one of the highest chamber marks in the college and they were also the joint winners of the Cardiff Violins Prize for Chamber Ensembles. That same year the trio also played for the press conferences and announcements of the Russia17 Festival at St David's Hall and the London Welsh Centre.
Due to the graduations of the members of both the Rosea Quartet and Ballare Piano Trio, Dayna has recently helped form Cardiff-based quartet, Hiraeth String Quartet and they recently won the Senior Ensemble Prize at the Music in the Vale Competition in Penarth.
Dayna is very grateful to be a Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Award holder for the coming year and is also grateful to the Elmley Foundation, Kathleen Trust, Clive and Sylvia Richards Charity, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation, Split Infinitive Trust and the Worcester Municipal Charities who have all helped to enable Dayna to continue her studies at a Masters level, without whose help she would have been unable to take up her place.
