Caroline Dowdle was born in South Africa and studied music at the University of Cape Town, where she was taught by the eminent chamber musician Lamar Crowson. There she qualified with a Masters in Music before moving to England to study at the Royal Northern College of Music as a solo pianist, under Renna Kellaway. She was awarded a fellowship in accompaniment at the college, a post which she held for two years, before moving to London to begin her career as a freelance pianist.

Since then she has performed widely in Britain and in Europe, giving recitals with singers and instrumentalists at the South Bank and Wigmore Hall, London, in Paris for Radio France, in Vienna and in Moscow. She is a member of the Cygnus Piano Trio and is a regular staff member on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Caroline first became involved with Samling masterclasses in 2002 and they have been an important part of her year ever since. She has also taken part in both Samling Opera productions - Mozart’s Così fan tutte in 2005 and Don Giovanni in 2007 - both at The Sage Gateshead, directed by Sir Thomas Allen.