SOUNDABOUT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Trustee, Interim Chair
Ben Weston-Conway is a chartered marketer. He is the founder of Influx, a marketing and communications advisory supporting the education sector, and communications advisor to Radley College in Oxford. Ben studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and Durham University. Although his short career as a trumpet player was painfully unsuccessful, he made lifelong friends through music. He is proud to be a trustee of Soundabout.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Head of Learning & Participation at English Touring Opera
Bradley is the Head of Learning & Participation at English Touring Opera, leading and curating their work with and for communities around the country. Including commissioning, directing and writing new operas for children; devising and leading workshops. In lockdown he made two series of online workshops for Learning Disabled children called Squawky's Musical Makaton. Bradley has loved music and drama from a young age, and having studied at the Royal College of Music (RCM), he is also an opera singer and director and has performed major roles for several UK companies.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Trustee, Safeguarding
Ceri graduated as a teacher from the University of Wales, Cardiff, and worked as a teacher for 25 years, holding roles of Head of Music, Director of Studies, Deputy Head and Head and teaching every age group from 3 -18 years old. She has also been a DSL for many years across various roles. She now works as a freelance educational consultant, offering bespoke guardianship advice and services for school age students and those at university, school placement and interview prep for entrance exams in boarding schools. She is also an inspector for AEGIS, the accredited body for guardianship companies in the UK, ensuring that the students receive the highest standards of care through guardianship services.
Job Titles:
- Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music
One of the UK's most successful music ambassadors, Debbie Wiseman is in great demand both as a composer and a conductor.
Throughout the past 20 years, there are probably few people in the UK who have not heard a theme from one of Debbie's films or television productions. Whether it is watching Stephen Fry bring to life Oscar Wilde for the big screen, hearing the latest political commentary on a Sunday morning with Andrew Marr, or revelling in the Tudor world of Thomas Cromwell in "Wolf Hall", Wiseman has gifted us iconic themes of beauty and passion, love and laughter.
Debbie is a Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music, and regularly gives masterclasses to schools and colleges about the art of composing music for picture.
As well as her composing work, Debbie appears in concert halls across the country conducting her film scores, and has been a regular guest conductor at the Royal Albert Hall's annual Filmharmonic concert as well as appearing at the 2014 Cordoba International Cinema Music Festival, becoming the first female conductor in the history of the event.
In the Queen's Birthday Honour's list, June 2018 Debbie Wiseman was awarded the OBE for services to music.
Brilliant pianist and musical savant Derek Paravicini was Soundabout's first official Patron.
Derek, who is blind, autistic and has learning disabilities, is one of the most remarkable musical entertainers of his generation. Derek has a repertoire of tens of thousands of pieces - all learnt just by listening. His astonishing improvisations and technique have wowed audiences all over the world.
Derek's extraordinary musical ability shows how enabling children with learning disabilities to enjoy music making from an early age is critical for learning, communication and creativity.
Emily is a Disabled musician and works in the development at Open Up Music - an organisation opening up music to young Disabled musicians. She studied Music at Newcastle University and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock, Germany. She has worked in events; supporting operational teams and stewards at music festivals across the UK, including Glastonbury festival. Emily worked as a Teacher in SEN schools for a number of years, before her passion for music and inclusion led her to where she is today. Emily is very happy to have joined the Soundabout team!
Fiona has over 25 years' experience of managing finance and operations in the voluntary sector. She has worked with a number of theatre and community arts organisations and most recently worked for a women's health charity in Leeds. Fiona joined Soundabout in 2022 and is responsible for the overview, management and reporting of the company's finances. She has a degree in Mathematics and Computational Science from Liverpool University.
Outside of numbers, Fiona has a passion for music both listening to and participating. She is a member of her local choir and also plays keyboards, flute and in the last 6 months, the violin.
After a long career as a professional orchestral flautist Helen enjoys working as a Music in Healthcare Practitioner alongside her position as Professor of Flute at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Helen is a regular tutor for both the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and has recently qualified as a Makaton Tutor. Helen believes passionately that music is for all and is excited to support Soundabout in its mission.
Holly is delighted to have joined Soundabout in 2022 following a lifelong interest in working with people with disabilities which began when growing up as a family carer and led to work in the care sector. Over the past 8 years, Holly has developed expertise in musical inclusion while working with professional orchestras and arts centres, and while on the board of Sound Sense. As Producer for ‘MAC Makes Music' at the Midlands Arts Centre, Holly supported Music Education Hubs and other organisations on their inclusion journeys. Key highlights included developing the Birmingham Centre for National Open Youth Orchestra (led by Disabled young people) and working with Soundabout to develop the West Midlands Inclusive Choir.
Upon graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music, Jamie spent several years teaching violin in the Berkshire area. This is where he first discovered Soundabout, co-leading music sessions for children in special schools across Berkshire. Jamie spent some time managing and leading the inclusion and partnership work for the Berkshire Music Trust, before moving to the Royal College of Music in London. Jamie works within the learning and participation team and enjoys nurturing and supporting the next generation of musicians and educators. Jamie still enjoys teaching in his spare time and has a real passion for inclusive music making.
With over 20 years experience working within voluntary sector organisations, Jo began working for Soundabout in 2014. Jo's role is to manage all our community programmes where we work directly with families, schools and care providers to bring exciting musical experiences. Jo's previous work and volunteering have taken her around the world by way of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and inspired a degree in Anthropology followed by a Masters degree in Gender, Culture and Development.
Jo's interest in working with people with disabilities led to a career break to live in L'Arche, a community for people with and without learning disabilities.
has been a part of Kathryn's life from a young age. Having studied music at Cardiff University she went on to work in the music industry supporting professional musicians and conductors to perform around the world. Kathryn now works at the University of Oxford and whilst music is no longer part of her day job she continues to sing and play the violin, occasionally with Soundabout.
Business Administator Katie is a Masters student at the Royal College of Music in London, where she is grateful to be a Headley Trust Scholar. Katie graduated from St Catherine's College, Oxford with a First Class BA (Hons) Music in 2021. She joined Soundabout as an Admin Intern in the same year, having volunteered with the organisation since 2020. Now the Business Administrator and Emerging Leader Co-Ordinator, Katie's role enables her to combine a love of music with a desire to make a difference in the charity and community music sectors.
Maryse studied Biochemistry in France and has worked in Clinical Research for approximately 12 years. After volunteering in Burma in 2018, Maryse decided to change career for a more meaningful and fulfilling job in the charity sector. Maryse took up an internship with Soundabout to get more experience in the charity sector and to try and make the world a better place.
Choir Coordinator Megan is a composer and performer who enjoys improvisation, alternative notation and working with musicians with disabilities, d/Deafness and neurodivergences. She lives in London and is doing her PhD in Composition at Royal Northern College of Music in association with Drake Music.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Treasurer
- Trustee
Mike is a Chartered Accountant who held senior finance positions in not for profit and private sector businesses. He has an MBA from Ashridge and has served as a Board member for a Further Education College. Mike's interests include travelling, golf, tennis volunteering and of course music. He is kept on his toes by three grand children and loves to be active.
Family Support Coordinator Rebecca has worked with young people with learning difficulties for 15+ years. Alongside studying an MA in Music Therapy with the University of South Wales, Rebecca worked as Head of Music in one of the UK's largest special schools for children and young people with autism and communication needs. Rebecca devised her own virtual and live music project called ‘Sensory Sound' which combines tactile, kinesthetic activities with songs to help children with additional needs to meet educational, communication and personal targets. Sensory Sound has reached over 3000 people in its first few years. A long-term admirer of Soundabout, Rebecca is thrilled to have joined the team in 2022 and looks forward to connecting with Soundabout's amazing community and families.
Wa is a sound enthusiast, who began as a grunge rock guitarist. With expertise in sound design and architectural acoustics, he has dedicated over 20 years to the performing arts, including major projects like Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District where he was Manager in Technical Development. Before relocating to the UK, he was the Associate Dean in the School of Theatre & Entertainment Arts at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.