About
Creative Director, Curator and Producer of bold new encounters with classical music
I create multi-disciplinary projects that are proven to attract and engage new audiences to classical music. Over more than a decade working in the arts and heritage sectors, I’ve collaborated with orchestras, choirs, composers, museums, theatres, lighting designers, movement directors and even an astronaut.
My live and digital projects have been staged at many of London’s leading venues, including Southbank Centre, the Bridge Theatre and the National Theatre, as well as reimagining less conventional spaces like an old bathhouse and Mail Rail’s underground engineering depot. My work has been featured at Spitalfields and Cheltenham Music Festivals, as part of UCLA’s Tune In Festival in the USA, and has transformed the staging of the annual RPS Music Awards held in venues throughout the UK.
Alongside a busy freelance career, I am Creative Director of Sinfonia Smith Square’s pioneering #ConcertLab series (shortlisted for a RPS Award in 2018) and a co-producer of Spitalfields Music Festival.
Before turning freelance, I was Communications Director of Southbank Sinfonia, directed Family Concerts at Southbank Centre (shortlisted for a Fantastic for Families Award in 2019), and kickstarted Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s digital team.
Equally happy working as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all your creative production requirements or alongside a wider creative team, I’d love to discuss any potential projects or ideas. Please get in touch and I’ll reply to you as soon as possible.
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Originally from the Midlands, music has been at the centre of my life for as long as I can remember. My brother’s trumpet playing in a local marching band made me want to learn an instrument too, but as my six-year-old arms weren’t yet long enough for the trombone I was instead directed to the drums. That moment changed my life, setting in turn a weird and wonderful career path that goes something like:
I was a percussionist as a teenager, leading me to play in a marching band, brass bands, percussion ensembles, orchestras, big bands and a ska band. I’m still just as musically curious now.
Not being mad keen on counting hundreds of rest bars before inevitably missing a big percussion entry anyway, I chose to study Geography at university. Its influence resonates through much of my creative work today, shaping stories and concepts that link music to the world around us.
I graduated with a Masters degree in Town Planning into a global recession - a period when, as it turns out, towns tend not to need planning all that much. Instead, I played in jazz bands and the pits of theatres, taught percussion, and started experimenting with concert formats in collaboration with a local brass band.
Having taught myself some digital skills, I joined Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra as their first ever Digital Officer - going on to embed digital activity within the orchestra’s communications and laying the foundations for digital concerts.
In 2014 I joined Southbank Sinfonia, going on to become the orchestra’s Communications Director, directing a new format of Family Concerts at Southbank Centre and, in time, starting their pioneering #ConcertLab series.
In February 2020, I took the plunge to go freelance with an ambition to share the experiences of #ConcertLab with others in the sector. The pandemic was a bit of a curveball in that plan, but the years since have seen both live and digital projects with an amazing variety of arts organisations, artists, music education charities, museums and many others. I love working and learning across sectors, sharing approaches and techniques that unlock new opportunities for all.
Today, I remain Creative Director of #ConcertLab, shaping bold encounters with classical music which have proven to engage new audiences (on average 60% of attendees are first time bookers), am a co-producer of Spitalfields Music Festival each summer, and enjoy working with a wide variety of clients that span genres, sectors and formats.
My work has evolved to incorporate musical programming and curation, projection design, sound design, creative writing, graphic and digital design, producing, filming and editing. I also run workshops on audience experience and new performance formats, and offer strategic communications consultancy to clients across the arts and heritage sectors.
How I can help you
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Through story-led programming or the wider creative direction of even bolder projects, I can help you forge experiences that attract new audiences and engage them with classical music in a meaningful way.
My creative direction of Southbank Sinfonia’s #ConcertLab series has attracted an entirely new audience to the orchestra - and was shortlisted for an RPS Award. Other projects have included collaborations with the Postal Museum, the composer/performer Errollyn Wallen, Spitalfields Music Festival and Cheltenham Music Festival.
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I can help you stand out in a busy world, creating high quality films and innovative digital strategies.
Working across scales from symphony orchestras to venues to individual artists, I have shot and edited performance films, teaser trailers, documentaries and projections to the highest standards.
Recent clients include The Sixteen, Dunedin Consort, Errollyn WaIlen, the Royal Philharmonic Society and Kings Place. I work with 4k Sony cameras, from small scale shoots to multi-camera sessions with a larger crew. Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss an upcoming project.
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I lead workshops for artists and managers on audience development, new approaches to performance, and the creation of effective digital and communications strategies.
Clients have included Britten Pears Arts, YCAT, Freiburger Barockorchester, Royal Holloway University of London and Southbank Sinfonia’s annual fellowship programme.
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Using my experience in creative direction and arts marketing, I can help you to shape creative, communications and digital strategies that can boost your organisation.
Consultancy clients have included the National Trust, Orchestras for All, and Hofesh Shechter Company.
