Peter Hunt

Peter is an experienced choral trainer and conductor having worked with a wide variety of singers and choral groups for over 40 years. He studied at Dartington and London before a long career in secondary music education, later focusing more broadly on choral education. He was Head of Creative Arts at Chipping Norton School for 10 years and still conducts the local Choral Society after 19 years. Until 2015 he was Head of Voice and Deputy Head of the independent music service Berkshire Maestros. Peter is the inspiration behind the VOICEWORKS publications with Oxford University Press that have transformed singing activities for many people. He has a national reputation as a workshop leader, trainer and adjudicator.

David Oliver

David, a former High School head teacher, was Folkworks Education Director (1993-2009) and has wide experience of delivering courses, workshops and training in folk music, song and dance. A leading Northumbrian dance band accordionist and caller, he leads The Hedgehog's Skin ceilidh band. and is creator of The Hexham Village Band. In recent years he has led community music projects across the world and in the UK. He is co-author of Folk Voiceworks (2007), author of English Accordion Music (2008), and creator of the best-selling Folkworks Session Collection. A passionate, cheerful, and engaging advocate of traditional music and dance of these islands, he loves to encourage everyone to be happy, confident and enthusiastic about participating in our great musical traditions.

Keith Allen

Keith Allenstudied at: Royal College of Music, London; Birmingham University, Kingston University, with a Master's Degree from the University of West London.

He worked professionally with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Previous positions include: Clarinet/Saxophone Tutor: Birmingham Conservatoire; Head of Birmingham Music Service.

Current positions include: Music Director: Birmingham Symphonic Winds; Festival Director: National Concert Band Festival (UK); Conductor in Residence: Birmingham University Wind Band; Conductor: Solihull Youth Wind Orchestra; Consultant Editor: Faber Music Ltd, Director: Best-of-British-Music.com – international trade advisory service; Adviser: London International Music Festival. Adjudicating/guest conducting in America, Spain, Latvia, Ireland, Hong Kong, Australia, China and the UK.

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.

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.

Jane Wilkinson

Jane trained as a soprano at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and then at the Royal College of Music where she won many competitions and awards. She performs solo art song recitals across the country and has toured South Africa, Europe and America. She is Head of Singing at Chelsea Academy and singing tutor at Imperial College, London. A former member of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain she now conducts New Malden Voices and New Malden Youth Choir. Jane has premiered many contemporary operas and frequently works alongside composers on new works for the stage and for recordings. She has performed oratorios and concerts at Edinburgh Festival, Royal Albert Hall and many other distinguished venues. Jane leads vocal masterclasses and workshops internationally and often runs ‘audition technique’ days for aspiring singers. Her voice has featured on a wide variety of albums and recordings from children’s repertoire to contemporary folk rock.

Elizabeth Childs

Elizabeth is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied flute with Gareth Morris and piano with Graeme Humphrey. International engagements have taken her to the USA, Australia and many parts of Europe. She has performed extensively throughout the UK as soloist, recitalist and orchestral player. Elizabeth has a broad and extensive teaching and performing career. She has successfully prepared pupils for scholarships to leading public schools, Junior Conservatoires and Specialist Music Schools, and now has many ex-students working in the profession. She regularly directs summer schools and other courses for young wind players.

Currently, teaching at UEA in Norwich, Elizabeth is also flautist in Quintessimo, plays with the Aurelian Ensemble, on the management team for Harpenden Musicale, flute tutor for The National Children’s Wind Orchestra of Great Britain, and directs several successful flute choirs. One of her main aims is to provide as many performing opportunities as possible for her pupils and firmly believes that encouraging children to perform enhances and benefits all areas of their education.

Kay Tucker

Kay was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire and began studies on the cello at the age of 12, continuing studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her portfolio career has combined teaching and adjudicating with performing as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. ‘Encouragement’ is a key word in all aspects of Kay’s work and she has great joy in working alongside musicians of all ages, particularly the very young. Kay’s passion for teaching led her to develop an early years strings & general musicianship system known as ‘Stringbabies’. Since its inception in 2004, ‘Stringbabies’ has become well established and accepted as a leading approach in strings teaching (surprisingly to all ages!) and is being delivered throughout the UK and abroad in individual teaching practices, schools and music services. In recent years, Kay worked as a consultant to Trinity Guildhall, selecting and co-selecting repertoire for graded exams and diplomas. Kay is a Trustee and member of the Executive council of the European String Teacher’s Association (ESTA) and chairs the Horsham Performers Platform.

Eileen Field

Soprano soloist, accompanist and choral director, Eileen studied at the Royal Academy of Music and is a teacher of singing and piano from beginners to post-graduate level, and gives masterclasses for choirs and solo singers. She is an ABRSM Consultant Moderator, Trainer, Grade and Diploma examiner, and Lead Singing Consultant for the ABRSM Singing Syllabus and the new ABRSM Songbooks, Plus. She has also selected and written performance notes for the Boosey & Hawkes Song Collections. She has examined and presented seminars for teachers in the UK, Southern Africa, the Far East, Bermuda and the USA, and throughout Europe, including Scandinavia, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Turkey and Poland, and her work as a long-established adjudicator for the British and International Federation of Festivals has taken her all over the British Isles and Ireland.

Jenny Thornton

Jenny trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, gaining awards for Character Acting and Most Promising Teacher. Jenny has led the Performing Arts Teams in a large comprehensive school, been an Assistant Principal for Edexcel, LAMDA examiner and now enjoys running her own Performance Centre with ages from 4 years to adults delivering drama, dance and musical theatre and also writing. Her play called “Gone” gained a Commended when performed at The Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond as did her most recent play “Young Love”. She was delighted when LAMDA chose two of her pieces for their new acting anthology. Her most recent teaching experience is working in a state school as a peripatetic teacher as part of her “Outreach” programme extending the work of the Richmond Festival for which she is the secretary. “Drama is a life skill that changed me from a stuttering introvert to a confident individual. We can give our children no better opportunity."