Belinda Mikhaïl

Belinda Mikhaïl was awarded the Associated Board and the Queen Mother Scholarships to study piano and singing as a joint first study at the Royal College of Music where she won the Hopkinson Gold Medal for her final recital. She has travelled extensively performing both as a soloist and as a chamber musician and has appeared as a concerto soloist at the major London Concert Halls.

She has made numerous recordings for Sony BMG and Universal and is a vocal soloist on EMI's Vocalise album as used in trailers for ER, Lost and Grey’s Anatomy. She appears as the featured soloist on many film soundtracks and her solo piano playing of the theme from Chariots of Fire was heard at every medal ceremony at the London Olympic Games.

Belinda is also in demand as a vocal coach for classical, musical theatre, pop and rock singers and runs an extensive private teaching practice. She has trained performers as diverse as Siouxsie Sioux, Jennifer Ellison, Jack Garrett, Cathy Tyson, the Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche, as well as the world-renowned dancer Akram Khan. Her students are enjoying major roles in theatre companies up and down the country as well as West End Shows such as Anything Goes, Chicago, Dreamgirls, Haddestown, Dirty Dancing, Book of Mormon and High School Musical, and the hit TV series’, Bridgerton, Downton Abbey and Broadchurch.

Marcia Carr

Marcia trained at Royal Holloway University of London. She trained in music, dance and drama, and currently facilitates workshops and directs shows for universities, drama schools and theatre departments internationally. She is a qualified Feldenkrais Practitioner, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

She’s toured internationally, winning Best Performer, Manchester Evening News and Buxton Festival and a Time Out Critics Choice.

Marcia is Co-Artistic Director of Arts Outburst and Co-Director of the Creative Blast Company, delivering educational packages, training young people, developing choirs, Community Companies and producing shows touring nationally and internationally in both theatrical and non-theatrical environments.

She’s an Associate Artist with the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, directing shows, developing workshops, on audition panels and leading training, an Adjudicator for The British and International Federation of Festivals and Deputy Chief Examiner for the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Gill Johnston

Gillian studied the bassoon with Archie Camden at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and, after a period of freelance playing, concentrated on a teaching career, before moving to Harpenden where she established her own Music School, ‘Harpenden Musicale’.

As well as running the Music School, Gill arranges Musicale Holidays, Competitions and a Summer Music Festival. She is the founder and Musical Director of the National Children’s Wind Orchestra and associated groups. Gill is an adjudicator for The British and International Federation of Festivals and very much enjoys contact with young musicians, inspiring and enthusing their interest in music.

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.

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."

Luise Horrocks

Luise has held teaching positions in both the Junior and Senior departments of Birmingham Conservatoire and as a visiting lecturer at Birmingham University. She runs an extensive private teaching practice and regularly gives masterclasses, choral workshops, presentations and teacher sessions both at home and abroad. She has worked as a mentor on the CT ABRSM panel and as a vocal coach on residential courses for singers. She has also trained and conducted the Wyre Forest Young Voices Choir.

For many years as Associate Chief Examiner in music for Trinity College London, Luise has worked on syllabus setting and leading projects for diplomas, examiner training and teacher support. Publications include a series of books on Musical Theatre repertoire and graded songbooks.

Luise is an experienced adjudicating member of the British and International Federation of Festivals.

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.

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.

Nadia Hinson

Nadia Hinson graduated from the Royal Academy of Music afterhaving studied the violin with Manoug Parikian and the pianowith Jean Harvey. She began a career as a freelance violinist andaccompanist and co-founded the Veloce ensemble (clarinetquintet) touring Britain performing specially commissioned worksand her own arrangements and compositions for that genre. Aregular recitalist for music clubs, she also performs with herfamily of musicians in the UK and in Europe. She is currently the owner and Directorof Hinson School of Music in Nottingham, and as well as being a festival adjudicatoris an international examiner for the ABRSM and a member of The Royal Society ofMusicians. Nadia is a Senior Consultant for the Performing Arts to the LEADAcademy Trust in Nottingham. She has set up composition workshops inspiringchildren to explore feelings and ideas through music and is a mentor for the Trust todevelop self-confidence and communication through learning and performance.