Andrew Padmore

Andrew studied conducting with Sir Adrian Boult and acquired an impressive list of academic qualifications. He was Director of Music in an old-established Grammar School and became Cathedral Organist and Master of Choristers at Cork and Belfast cathedrals, giving organ recitals in many British cathedrals and concert halls. In 1989 he left full-time cathedral music to concentrate on his work as a choral and orchestral conductor, lecturer and masterclass clinician. Andrew is resident conductor and artistic director of the Yorkshire Philharmonic Choir and Harrogate Choral Society, and has conducted choirs and orchestras internationally, ranging from small chamber choirs at the BBC to large symphony orchestras and choirs including the well-loved “Huddersfield Choral Society”. Andrew is an examiner for the Royal Schools of Music and in demand as a guest conductor for the major choral repertoire both in the UK and overseas.

Ann Lampard

Ann was born and educated in the North East of England, studying singing with Betty Middleton. At twenty-one she won many National Festival Awards, including the Oxford Festival Professional Recital Award, before moving to London to study singing with Marjorie Thomas. She joined Glyndebourne Festival Opera after winning the Dame Maggie Teyte International Operatic Prize, and went on to sing many leading roles. Ann toured the Far East giving recitals and masterclasses before she decided to concentrate on teaching. She has been Head of Voice at the Junior Royal Academy of Music in London, for sixteen years. Currently, she divides her time between her home on the Isle of Skye, teaching in Sussex and adjudication.

Craig Ogden

Craig was born in Australia and is one of the most exciting guitarists of his generation. He studied guitar from the age of seven and percussion from the age of thirteen. In 2004, he became the youngest instrumentalist to receive a Fellowship from the Royal Northern College of Music in recognition of his achievements. Craig’s recordings for Virgin/EMI, Chandos, Nimbus, Hyperion and Sony have received wide acclaim, and BBC Music Magazine dubbed him "a worthy successor to Julian Bream". His debut solo CD for Nimbus Records of '20th Century Classics by British composers' was nominated for a Grammy Award. Craig has performed concertos with all of the major UK orchestras and also internationally. Craig regularly appears as soloist and chamber musician at the major London venues and collaborates with many of the UK’s top artists and ensembles. He has released a number of CDs and is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

David Kirby-Ashmore

After studying at the Royal Academy of Music David undertook a variety of posts teaching singing before pursuing a full-time performance career. He currently maintains a private teaching practice, with students ranging from teenagers to professional singers, and runs a yearly summer school.

As a performer, in addition to recitals and concerts in major London venues including The Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Purcell Room, St. John’s Smith Square, and The Royal Albert hall, David’s career has taken him all over the world including Hong Kong, the USA, and a world tour in the title role of Rigoletto. Closer to home he has taken principal rôles with English and Welsh National Operas and companies throughout Europe.

In addition to adjudicating widely for the Festival movement, including three trips to Sri Lanka, David has advised many festivals on their choice of repertoire and set music.

Graeme Humphrey

Graeme has been a Professor of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music since 1974, and has been actively involved in festival adjudicating, examining and teaching; this work has taken him across the globe to Europe, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. Graeme was awarded an Associated Board Scholarship from New Zealand to study piano at the Royal Academy of Music. While at the RAM he developed interests in chamber music, accompanying and teaching. He has broadcast many times on BBC Radio 3, and has performed at the Bath and Harrogate Festivals, the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall in London.

He is also active in seminars for teachers in the United Kingdom and abroad, and maintains a substantial private teaching practice with pupils of all ages and stages. In 1997 he was elected Warden of the Private Teachers’ Section of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and in 2002 was elected President of the Royal Academy of Music Club and became Music Director of the Hereford International Summer School in 2004.

Paul Harris

Paul has established an international reputation as one of Britain’s leading music educationalists. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where, as a pupil of John Davies, he won the August Manns Prize for outstanding performance in clarinet playing. He has taught in the UK, the USA, the Far East, New Zealand and Australia and has undertaken research into specialist music education for the highly talented. He has many publications to his name, mostly concerned with music education. His book, “The Music Teacher’s Companion”, won the UK’s Music Industry Association’s Best New Book award in 2001. He writes for many national and international journals and made an appearance in the final Inspector Morse novel!

Pete Cooper

Pete performs, composes, teaches and writes about fiddle music. He is also a singer. His band “Rattle on the Stovepipe”, with Dave Arthur and Chris Moreton, performs English and Appalachian Old Time music. Born in Stafford, Pete started violin at the age of 9, and took his degree in English at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1979, he recorded “Frosty Morning” with American singer Holly Tannen and toured widely in Europe and California. He also worked on the folk scene with singer Peta Webb, with whom he recorded “The Heart is True”. He has released many other recordings and has composed for films as well as for BBC TV and Radio. Best known as a fiddle teacher and workshop leader, Pete is a stalwart of Hands on Music weekends in Oxfordshire and popular tutor at Folkworks events in the northeast of England. Keen to introduce vernacular fiddling to classical players, he has directed courses at the Wigmore Hall, Dartington International Summer School and London’s Royal Academy. He runs the London Fiddle School sharing his enthusiasm for the traditional music from around the world.

Sue Mackay

Sue ran The Fylde Stage School for ten years, teaching all levels of dance, speech and drama before graduating from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama.

After working in Repertory Theatre, touring and TV, Sue decided that it was time to realise other dreams. She now directs Upstage Drama, teaching Speech and Drama, GCSE Drama and Upstage Young People’s Theatre. She also directs Bare Boards Theatre Company and adjudicates at festivals all over the UK as well as abroad. In September 2004, she launched a successful pilot programme reaching out to disaffected Year 10 and Year 11 pupils. In 2007, she took over the role of Co-ordinator of Performing Arts in the Community at a High School, providing links with local primary schools.

Sue sees the role of adjudicator as a combination of bringing new ideas and approaches to the text and the performance as well as fresh encouragement to every performer.

Viviane Ronchetti

Viviane won a Junior Exhibition to the Royal Manchester College of Music to study the violin with the international concert artiste, Endre Wolf, at the age of 13. She became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain a year later and ultimately, the NYO’s sub-leader. In 1966, Viviane was awarded a place to study music at Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music concurrently. She was a pupil of Professor Alexandre Mouskovsky at the RMCM and graduated with Bachelor of Music Degree with special Honours awarded in Performance. After graduating, Viviane studied with Manoug Parikian and started on a career combining teaching with free-lancing with the major London chamber orchestras. Viviane has held Head of Strings posts at Harrow School and Queenswood School and was Professor of violin at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Junior department for five years from 2003 to 2008. She is Director of the National Youth Strings Academy – founded in 1995 to promote the string orchestra repertoire and to develop the ensemble-playing skills of talented young string-players aged 9 to 21. She travels extensively in both the UK and overseas as a specialist strings adjudicator.

Anthony Williams (President)

Concert pianist, writer, lecturer, ABRSM examiner and moderator, and festival adjudicator, Anthony studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London. and Reading University. Following international competition success he embarked on a career as a concert pianist and quickly established an international reputation as a piano teacher and a passionate educator of pianistic musicianship at all ages and levels, giving piano masterclasses, public lecture-recitals and seminars on performance and the art of teaching. He has given talks on piano performance for Radio 3 and is author and editor of various publications including The Best of Grade and Fingerprints (Faber), Teaching Notes (ABRSM) and the highly-acclaimed Piano Teacher’s Survival Guide (Faber, 2017). Anthony combines his freelance career with a full-time position at Radley College, Oxfordshire as Head of Keyboard & Instrumental Music and is our President.