Speakers

Dr Aoife Monks (Chair)

Dr Aoife Monks is a Reader in Theatre and Performance Studies at Queen Mary University of London. She does research on working cultures and conditions in the arts, and is Arts and Culture academic lead for QMUL. She is the curator of the Costume at the National Theatre exhibition at the NT and the author of three books on costume.

James Ainscough
Chief Executive, Help Musicians

James has been Chief Executive at Help Musicians for over 2 years, having worked previously at the Royal Albert Hall and Warner Music. The 99-year-old charity, founded by Elgar, supports musicians from all genres across creative development, health & wellbeing, and business skills. So far the team have distributed over £13m of financial hardship funding to over 20,000 musicians throughout the UK.

Lucy Heyman
Vocal and performance coach

Lucy is a vocal and performance coach and one of the UK’s leading specialists in the health and wellbeing support of commercial recording artists. Her book Sound Advice - The Ultimate Guide to a Healthy and Successful Career in Music, co-written with journalist Rhian Jones, will be published in January 2021. Lucy is also a musician, researcher, the founder of industry health and wellbeing consultancy, Elevate, and host and creator of the Elevate Music Podcast.

Kellie Dorrington
Operations and Development Manager

Kellie has worked at Citizens Advice Haringey for four years, and brought with her a wealth of advice experience. Joining from Uttlesford Citizens Advice Bureau, she started as a volunteer trainee adviser at Uttlesdford Citizens Advice Bureau, before progressing to an ASM role.

Dr Jeremy Huw Williams
Baritone

Jeremy is a Welsh baritone who made his debut with Welsh National Opera and has since appeared in over seventy operatic roles, giving performances at major venues worldwide and appearing with leading orchestras. Jeremy has made many recordings for BBC Radio 3, and more than thirty commercial recordings, including over ten solo discs.

Catriona Price
Performer, composer

Catriona is a violinist and composer from Orkney. She is one half of fiddle and harp duo Twelfth Day, whose latest album was nominated in the Scottish Awards for New Music 2020, and a member of folk band Fara. Her first major composition commission ‘Hert’ was premiered at Celtic Connections 2020, she has won awards for her string quartet piece ‘May Alone’, and composed the soundtrack for feature-length motion picture ‘The Right Bus’.