Anne Percival was a clarinet student at the Northern School of Music. Praised for her performance of Schubert's The Shepherd on the Rock at the NSM's 1965 Summer Concert, where she played alongside Tessa Hultgreen (soprano) and Richard Walsh (piano), Anne would later go on to play alongside the well known Irish composer, Havelock Nelson. Whilst doing this, she would also perform with the singers, Florence Innis (soprano) and Anne Lavery (contralto).