Here we post the bios of such FAMG members as have supplied them, as supplied: FAMG has not checked any bio and disclaims all liability for any inaccuracy. Email us your bio (200-300 words or so; no CVs; no special characters like smart quote marks, bullets or accents) and we'll post it here. Don't forget to send us updates as your details change.

Andrew Aarons (painter)
I was born in London, England (south-east London to be exact, almost within the sound of Bow Bells, which makes me almost a Cockney), the second child to Rene and Hymie Aarons. Hymie, a tailor's presser and the son of a tailor's presser definitely was a Cockney. My formative years were spent sheltering from German bombs in the cupboard under the stairs or travelling back and forth with my mother and grandmother on trains between evacuations in Wales and the Blitz in London. I went to Camberwell School of Art (London) junior department at the age of thirteen. There I completed a modest secondary education with a lot of art and entered the four year degree programme at the age of fifteen After obtaining my degree I spent a further year at Manchester University College of Science and Technology (now UMIST) studying textile design and technology because my parents though I should be able to "do real work not be just an artist and starve".

In August 1959 I left England and went to Canada. I intended to go on to San Francisco after seeing some family in London Ontario but met my wife to be. And so I found myself a job as a designer of textiles, got married in 1960 and then started teaching art at high school level in 1962. I continued teaching and painting until 1977 when I decided that full time teaching and serious painting were not compatible. Consequently I gave up teaching.

I had been exhibiting regularly in Toronto from 1965 and had support from the Prince Arthur Galleries, now unfortunately defunct. My problem was coming to terms with an alien (Canadian) environment. I solved that problem by bringing my Canadian family to England in 1980.

From 1977 to 1985 I lived from sales of my work, commissions, which were mostly from the owners and trainers of thoroughbreds in Newmarket, some generous Canada Council grants and the moral earnings of my wife. After eight years I began to feel isolated and fortunately was offered a teaching post as a Senior Lecturer at Cambridge College of Arts and Technology (now Anglia Ruskin University) where I taught painting and printmaking and most importantly, met and talked to other artists.

I dislike labels but simply put my work has gone through phases of realism - installation/environments to a kind of expressionism. Living in Canada forced me to look at landscape and the urban scene. Returning to my roots in England made me want to go back further, to my family's roots in Poland and following that path (with visits to my mother's house in Poland and visits to refusniks in Russia) led inevitably to the Holocaust. Although I have completed most of the paintings of that cycle, I am still working on the etchings and an occasional drawing. I'm also about to begin a video and art making project with refugee teenagers and will tie that together with a video I have already made of interviews with English Second World War evacuees and their memories of dislocation from city to countryside.

My current paintings and drawings are to do with the transitory nature of life and memory. They deal with the performance of music (Jazz and Classical) the urban environment, light and weather. I'm also still making equestrian paintings because I love horses and, even though I've recently moved from Cambridge (twelve miles from Newmarket) I now live only minutes away from two stables and can watch the horses and riders on Wimbledon Common.


Alastair Aberdare (Berlioz expert)
Alastair Aberdare has been a passionate consumer of classical music since first discovering it as an undergraduate at Oxford in the 1960s. He even engaged in a 15-year struggle to play the violin, but admitted defeat when his despairing teacher emigrated to Australia and gave up the violin in favour of tennis.

Alastair's most specific musical interest is in the life and music of Hector Berlioz. He is a long-standing member of the Berlioz Society, of which he is also both a former and present (from 2006) Treasurer. His English translation of Berlioz's Les Grotesques de la Musique was published by the University of Rochester Press as The Musical Madhouse in 2003 (the bicentenary of the composer's birth), and in paperback in 2005. He writes regular reviews and articles for the Berlioz Society Bulletin and gives occasional talks on aspects of Berlioz's life and works. His son is even named Hector.

Alastair is Deputy Chairman (and former Chairman) of the Barnes Music Society and a member of the advisory Council of the National Opera Studio and of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the English Speaking Union. In the past he has been a member of the Development Committee of the Academy of Ancient Music and (briefly) of a group of business advisors to the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Alastair's musical tastes are eclectic but idiosyncratic, with an increasing focus on opera and chamber music. Other favourite composers include Beethoven, Elgar, Gluck, Handel, Janacek, Mozart, Nielsen, Purcell, Schubert and Smetana. He tries to find time to earn a living as a corporate reputation consultant, and is a Trustee of the National Botanic Garden of Wales and a Fellow of the RSA and of the Royal Geographic Society. He is married with two grown-up children.


Barbara Anderson (arts administration; piano; violin)
Barbara Anderson is Academic Registrar at Gresham College in Holborn, London. She lives in Bloomsbury and was for many years an administrator at the University of London's Senate House. She has a BA from the Open University and a Diploma in Management Studies from what was the Polytechnic of Central London. Her early career was in advertising and marketing.

Barbara plays the piano and violin and is proud to be working at an institution that appointed its first Professor of Music, John Bull, in 1597. More than 400 years later the College continues to have an exciting programme of music lectures and chamber concerts, supported by the Mercers' Company and the City of London, who still honour the terms of the Will of its founder Sir Thomas Gresham. Details of the programme are at http://www.gresham.ac.uk/ or from Barbara at registrar@gresham.ac.uk.


Christy Avraam (conceptual artist)
Christy Avraam is a conceptual artist graduating from Central St Martins Art School. She has won and been short-listed for numerous awards and prizes both regional and national. She makes installations and paintings.

Her skill lies in her conceptual thinking, a diverse palette of materials is used during the thought process to illustrate her ideas. She uses wire, metal, glass, photography, drawing and other materials. She also paints figuratively and has an interest in contemporary Freudian theory.

She shows work in galleries and at art fairs all over England and Europe, collaborates with architects on conceptualising buildings and in December 06 was short-listed for a national artist-architect prize to build a Pod building on the Isle of Wight for a new Arts Council initiative. She has worked as an artist in residence all over the South East of England.

In February 07 she was featured in Arteris magazine and was interviewed by Greek National television for the 'Eimaste Etho' programme in March 07 for her contribution to the Arts as a British woman of Greek heritage.

She lives and works in London and works to commission.
studio@christyavraam.com
http://www.christyavraam.com/
07816 236725


Jennie Ball (Buxton Opera; Peak Music Society)
Chairmanship of a Sand and Gravel Company for 25 years has not stopped my complete love of all music and the arts. I have held many non executive posts and presently run a commercial radio station in the Peak District called High Peak Radio which has a listening population of 100,000. I am Chairman of the Peak Music Society now in its 39th year running 6 concerts a
year from the Chatsworth Estate in Derbyshire. We have 260 members and our concerts are a sell out. We engage the top world chamber musicians but we aim to support young musicians at all levels both locally and nationally and actively encourage the young from local schools and colleges like the Royal Northern, and support Countess of Munster and YCAT and Tillett Trusts.

My love of Opera has taken me on to the Board of Buxton Opera and Literary Festival where we now proud to announce that we have more Friends than both Glyndebourne and the ENO. Held over three weeks in July every year Buxton aim to promote operas that are rarely performed elsewhere.

In my past life I have been on the Board of the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra - Patron Matthew Barley - and have worked with abused young children and as a non-exec in the NHS for many years. I look forward to helping as much as I can with FAMG.


Clive Barda (photography of musicians)
Born in 1945 Clive Barda took a degree in Modern Languages at London University and began his professional career in the City of London. However, in 1967 his increasing interest in both photography and music led to his deciding to make photography his profession.

A chance commission to photograph the harpist Susan Drake in 1968 was to prove the start of a lifetime's devotion to capturing on film the intense emotion and concentration which musicians bring to their art and Clive Barda is now recognised as one of London's most distinguished photographers in the field of classical music and the performing arts. He was invited to photograph his first opera at the Royal Opera House in 1974 and has worked closely with the Royal Opera ever since.

Clive Barda's work has been exhibited widely. A permanent exhibition of his photos was installed at London's Wigmore Hall in March 2005. In 1979 he had a major exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall which later travelled to Manchester and Australia. In 1985 he participated in a joint exhibition with Snowdon and Patrick Lichfield at the Science Museum in London and the Royal Photographic Society in Bath and in 1988 he had a one-man show of his opera photographs at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television.

His work is in the permanent collections of both the National Museum of Photography Film & TV in Bradford, England and the National Portrait Gallery in London. In November 1996 Clive Barda had a major exhibition of his photographs to mark the opening of the new Nagaoka Lyric Hall in Nagaoka, Japan. In August 2000 an exhibition of his work was mounted as part of the Edinburgh International Festival and was subsequently seen at the Cheltenham Literary Festival in October 2000 and in 2002 at the Baroco Gallery in Paris.

A passionate lover of the performing arts, especially music, Clive Barda has a unique ability to identify with his subjects and conveys this understanding in his images. He says his preferred way of working is to encourage an artist to rehearse or perform as if he were not present (he is famously discreet) and then gradually to become part of the creative process himself, the photographs arising naturally from the ebb and flow of the music or drama.

During the course of his career Clive Barda has enjoyed working with the world's very greatest artists. Each of his photographs is made with love and careful thought to convey not only a particular facet of the performer in question but also to try and capture a unique instant in the preparation and creation of a performance.

Clive Barda has illustrated four books: David Wynne 1968-1974, a photographic survey of the work of the sculptor published by Phaidon Press; Festival!, a volume celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Edinburgh International Festival for which he was the principal photographer; Performance!, a retrospective of his work with classical musicians and opera singers over the last thirty years was published by Peter Biddulph in 2001; and The Power of The Ring, an in-depth documetation of the design and production of the latest production of Wagner's Ring at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to be published in September 2007.

Clive Barda's photographs appear continually in books and in all the media and are available through ArenaPAL.


Ken Bennett-Hunter (Opera and theatre management)
A graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he has over thirty years experience of stage, production and general management in both funded and commercial theatre. He has worked for English National Opera, Opera North, the National Theatre, and in the West End. His Executive Producer credits include productions at Strindberg? Intima Teater, a co-production with the Royal Dramaten in Stockholm and, since 1998, the annual TMA Regional Theatre Awards ceremony.

For six years, he was Administrative Director of the Theatre Royal Stratford East. A past president of the Theatrical Management Association (1995-1998), he has been a Trustee of a number of performing arts companies, and is presently a trustee of English Touring Theatre. He was a director of Stratford Development Partnership Ltd., the body responsible for delivering the Government's City Challenge programme in the London Borough of Newham and chairman of its Communications Committee (1993-1995).

He lectures in arts policy at two London universities, and has run training courses in Finland and South Korea. He has taught at LAMDA, and is a past external examiner and honorary fellow of Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Current consultancy clients include Dublin's Abbey Theatre and a joint VocalEyes/Stagetext initiative to promote audio description and captioning for the performing arts. He is a regular contributor to The Stage newspaper and other trade publications.

When allowed, he plays the bassoon.


Dafydd Bullock (composer, conductor)
Dafydd Bullock was born in 1953 in Llanberis, Gwynedd, Cymru (Wales). A composer, conductor, arranger and teacher, he graduated in Music (University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music, 1971-1976) and took a Master's Degree in International Relations (University of Sussex, 1981-1983). In 1993 and 1994 he won first prizes at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and in 1995 he was honoured in Wales by admission to the highest Order of the Gorsedd of Bards. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2005.

His compositions include eight symphonies, a cycle of five symphonic poems, two operas, a Requiem, two Mass settings, a Missa Brevis, an oratorio, nine string quartets and other chamber music and many songs and pieces for piano. He has written scores for two films.

Works have been published in the British Isles by Cwmni Gwynn, Curiad and Bardic Edition, in Belgium by Alain Van Kerckhoven Editeur, and in Luxembourg by Music Enterprise and Double You. He has made twenty-two CDs to date, with SAIN (Wales), AVK (Belgium) and LakeSound. His music has been performed and broadcast in many countries, including Japan, China, Brazil and Colombia as well as widely within Europe.

Dafydd Bullock has a particular relationship with Prague: his Second Symphony was given its world premiere by Musici de Praga during the 1996 Prague Spring Festival and the Third Symphony, again in Prague, on St. Valentine's Day, 1997. The third and fourth String Quartets were also recorded in Prague (Becher Quartet) as were the complete works for Cello and Piano (Jindrich Ptacek) and five Trios. More recently, Virtuosi de Basso, the twelve solo celli of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra have recorded and performed music especially written for them.


Lalita Carlton-Jones Arts Project Manager
Born in Llandudno, Lalita trained as a teacher before becoming actively involved in theatre. She was Marketing Manager for D'Oyly Carte Opera and the Mermaid Theatre; Producer and Administrator of the Molecule Theatre of Science for Young People and a founder of the Childrens' Theatre Association before becoming head of arts sponsorships for British Petroleum and then returned to her first love, opera as Director of Development at Welsh National Opera.

Lalita has since pursued a freelance career working on Lottery distribution for the Arts Council of England and South East Arts; fund raising and booking tours for the Unicorn Theatre for Young People and their Little Deaf Unicorn project; and has extended the international membership of the Friends organisation of the Royal Institution and British Friends of the Florence Trust and the Royal Philharmonic Society.

A Life Fellow of the RSA, her interests are opera, classical music, ballet, ancient history, art and travel. She supports SOS Villages for Children, the Mariinsky Theatre Trust, the London Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Three Oranges (Prokofiev Society) and the Royal Philharmonic Society. Lalita is a National Adviser for the Arts Council of Wales and a member of the Vibrant and Culturally Rich City of London sub-group.


Benjamin Chan (Bigyellowband, piano, organ, performance entrepreneur)
Benjamin's Bigyellowband has been featured on the BBC website and released a single in 2006 on Apple i-Tunes and Top Hat Band, one of Bride magazine's best wedding bands in the UK in 2007. Ben showed early promise in music at his jesuit St. Ignatius preparatory school in San Francisco performing for Nobel Prize winners for the California Academy of Sciences earning the school's music award and the prestigious Bank of America Music Achievement Award in 1992 and subsequently also gained lifetime membership of the California Scholarship Federation.

Within his profession, Ben was one of the youngest to be admitted into the Chartered Institute of Library Information Professionals Professional Achievements Register and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Since 1998, Ben has performed with his band and as a pianist in his native UK playing in central London venues ranging from the, the Metro Bar on Oxford Street, the Victoria & Albert Museum, British Museum, to the CC Club in Piccadilly and Royal Opera House' Linbury Studios to audiences as large as 500. His Bigyellowband has been interviewed and played on radio stations in London, Newcastle and Manchester. Ben played the organ for the Pope's ambassador to the UK at his local church, participated in the London City Showcase festival in 2006 and designs his own shirts for his gigs.

In 2008, he initiated and hosted the St-Reatham festival of music which featured talented amateurs alongside award winning musicians (alumni and students) from the Royal Academy of Music, Trnity College of Music and Royal College of Music performing in an informal and supportive setting. The opportunity provided valuable networking opportunities, and inspiration for all participants.


Gilly French and Jeremy Gray (artistic directors, Bampton Classical Opera)
Bampton Classical Opera is a small and highly respected professional company specializing in rare opera of the classical period. Over 14 years the company has given many significant UK premieres (including operas by Arne, Cimarosa, Mart"n y Soler, Paisiello, Salieri, Storace, as well as Mozart and Haydn), and worked with many outstanding young singers and conductors. The company appears regularly at venues in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and at St John's Smith Square London, as well as at major festivals in Bath and Buxton. Some performances are undertaken with the London Mozart Players. Gilly is also conductor of Cantandum, a Westminster based chamber choir, and of Imperial College Wind Band, and teaches chemistry at Westminster School. Jeremy is an art historian and teaches at Queen's College, London. "Ever resourceful... a gifted and uproarious company" Opera News.
http://www.bamptonopera.org/

Graeme Harper (creative writer, professor, director)
http://www.graemeharper.com/
Director of the National Institute for Excellence in the Creative Industries (http://www.nieci.org.uk) and Professor of Creative Writing at Bangor University, Graeme Harper is a committee member of RSAWAW. He is currently working on a new novel/collection of short stories; and with composer Edward Wright, and with composer Bill Connor, on a choral piece and an opera, respectively. Graeme writes as Brooke Biaz, as well as under his own name.

He was awarded the first doctorate in Creative Writing awarded in Australia, following a period as a Commonwealth Universities scholar. The award of the Premier's Award, and of National Book Council Award for New Fiction, initiated a period of travel. Returning to the UK, he was awarded a second doctorate from the University of East Anglia.

He is the current Chair of Higher Education at the National Association, an Honorary Professor at the University of Bedfordshire, and a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council's (AHRC) Committee on Practice-Led Research.

His latest works as Brooke Biaz are "Moon Dance" (Parlor, 2008), "Small Maps of the World" (Parlor, 2006); and as Graeme Harper, "The Creative Writing Guidebook" (Continuum, 2008), "Sound and Music in Film and the Visual Media: a Critical Overview (Continuum, 2008).

Graeme is very keen to work with others on exciting projects.

Chair of http://www.greatuniversity.org/, http://www.creativeuniversities.com/ and http://www.creativelab.org.uk/, he is also an advocate for creative education.


Hannah Horovitz (concert promoter)
http://www.springboardconcertstrust.org/
Hannah Horovitz has been actively involved in the arts over many years, in a career that has covered publishing, television, theatre and music management and which has won her international acclaim. Her concert agency, Horovitz Management, launched the careers of Andras Schiff and the Cleveland Quartet and founded the Wigmore Hall Coffee Concerts.

She is currently Artistic Director of Springboard Concerts Trust, a registered charity which she co-founded in 1996. The Trust, now in its 10th season, presents an annual autumn series of international recitals on Sunday mornings in the magnificent Great Gallery of the Wallace Collection, Manchester Square. The purpose of these concerts is to offer young artists with a growing reputation their London recital debut at no cost to themselves. 43 Concerts have now taken place and more than 70 new names introduced to the audience. Prior to the one hour concert at 11am the audience is offered a private view of the collection and refreshments as part of the ticket price. These concerts have won great critical acclaim and are highly sought after as a platform for new talent.( see) www.springboardconcertstrust.org

From 1978-96 Hannah Horovitz was Deputy Director of Visiting Arts, the national agency for developing and promoting the flow of international arts and artists into the UK. In recognition of her work she was awarded Honorary Membership of the British Council.

Hannah serves on the executive committee of the Anglo-Austrian Music Society and on the Advisory Board of the Anglo-Suisse Artistic Foundation. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

Her international consultancy, HHAssociates, draws on a network of specialists to offer project management and creative planning for the presentation of arts events.


Emma Hutchinson (Music House for Children)
http://www.musichouseforchildren.co.uk/
Emma Hutchinson studied the piano and French Horn at Chethams School of Music, Manchester from 1973-81 before retiring briefly from music to study dance and theatre at Dartington College of Arts. She later returned to music at Trinity College of Music, London resulting in a diploma for teaching and performance.

Emma's career was not to be in performing, nor indeed in dance or theatre. Her passion for the provision of music education and performance for all evolved largely through realisation of the immense benefits that music education had served her own childhood.

In 1994 Emma established The Music House for Children in London. In 2005 this company now provides over 3,000 children across London with opportunities for instrumental learning, performance, workshops, early years music, training support for teachers and musicians and careers opportunities in music. It turns over 350k pa. As a not for profit business it puts every penny back into supporting music education and performance.

The Music House for Children is a member of NAME (The National Association of Music Educators) and The Music Manifesto. As endorsed by the School Standards Minister The Music Manifesto offers a strategic direction for the future of music education together with performers, teachers and artists in the UK.

In 2001 Emma established Bush Hall, a beautiful Edwardian performance hall. Bush Hall seats 350 and hosts musicians both internationally and at home. Bush Hall's natural acoustics lends itself perfectly to classical as well as rock, country and alternative music performances. Bush Hall supports new and up and coming groups, soloists, show cases and album releases as well as hosting promotional and televised events.

In 2004 The Music House shop was opened in London. It provides a wide range of instruments, accessories, and sheet music largely aimed at the teaching profession. Discounts are available to musicians as well as competitive packages for institutions.

In addition to heading the three companies Emma is compiling The Music House's Early Years music training and teaching programme. She is also working with local and national strategies to encourage live music back into schools, and to engage young audiences in music as a career.

Emma and her team are developing and piloting training opportunities to support music scholars and performers in their transition between study and the work place.


Adrian Levine (violin)
Born in London of Russian-Polish descent, Adrian Levine was a student of Andre Mangeot, then won a Junior Exhibition to the RCM. He later studied at the Royal Academy of Music where his teachers included Gyorgy Pauk, Sidney Griller and Emanuel Hurwitz. Later study followed with members of the Amadeus Quartet for chamber music, a special study of the Janacek Quartets with the Janacek Quartet, and further violin studies with Henryk Szerying. At the age of 24 he was appointed a first violinist in the English Chamber Orchestra, working with such artists as Daniel Barenboim, Mstislav Rostropovich and Isaac Stern. After three years with the ECO, touring widely to such places as Hong Kong, the Caribbean, Europe and the USA, he left to become Leader of the Amphion String Quartet, taking residencies first at the Hatfield Polytechnic (now the University of Hertfordshire) then at the University of Liverpool. With the Quartet he toured Europe, the Far East and the USA and made many broadcasts for the BBC. During this period he also toured Korea and Hong Kong for the British Council.

In 1985 he was invited by Iona Brown to share the front desk of the Academy of St Martin-in-the Fields with her. In his five years with the Academy he frequently appeared as soloist, leader and director, making many recordings and performing in the USA, Australia, Japan, Korea, Scandinavia and nearly every European country.

In 1990 he was invited to become Associate Leader of the Philharmonia Orchestra, where he led many international tours and concerts, including the famous Pavarotti in the Park open-air concert in Hyde Park, London, in 1991, televised throughout the world. In 1992 he left the Philharmonia to accept a five year post as Leader of the Opera House of Rome at the invitation of Giuseppe Sinopoli.

Adrian Levine has worked as Guest Leader with such orchestras as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Northern Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Ballet, BBC Welsh and Welsh National Opera.

Since returning to work in London, Adrian Levine has become much in demand as a teacher and chamber music coach. He was for four years on the faculty at the Yellow Barn Festival in Vermont, USA, and has since 2002 taught and performed at the International Musical Arts Institute in Maine. He was until 2004 Head of Strings at London's Centre for Young Musicians, and is now on the staff at Chetham's School, Manchester, where he teaches violin, viola and chamber music. He plays a Petrus Guarneri violin made in Venice, c.1740.


James Lowe (conductor)
http://www.rsno.org.uk/
James Lowe was born in Nottingham in 1976 and began his musical career with the viola at the age of 13, later studying with John White of the Royal Academy of Music. In 1999 he graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a first class honours degree in music, winning the Keasby, Pitt-Watson and Cameron prizes for his contribution to music making both in the University and in the community at large.

James' studies of conducting have taken him to St. Petersburg, Moscow, London, Amsterdam, the US, the Czech Republic, Canada and Estonia. He has studied with Neeme J?i, and is a regular student of the highly acclaimed teacher Jorma Panula, credited with training the astonishing number of Finnish conductors taking major positions with orchestras around the world.

In 2001 he participated in the London Master Class series led by Benjamin Zander, and subsequently was appointed Zander Conducting Fellow with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2001-2002 season. On his return from the US, James was appointed Artistic Director of the New Bristol Sinfonia.

In November 2003 he was one of two prizewinners in the Tokyo International Competition for Conductors, conducting the New Japan Philharmonic. He returned to Japan in March 2004 where he made highly successful debut concerts with the Osaka and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestras.

He was appointed the Associate Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in September 2004.


Madeleine Mitchell (violin)
www.classical-artists.com/madeleinemitchell
Described by Chief Music Critic of The Times this year as 'one of Britain's liveliest musical forces', Madeleine Mitchell is one of Britain's most celebrated violinists, performing as a soloist in over 40 countries for 2 decades. The winner of many awards, she broadcasts frequently for both television and radio including Channel 7 and ABC-Australia, SABC, in Europe, for the BBC and the Proms with Joanna MacGregor. She represented Britain in the festival UKinNY with a recital at New York's Lincoln Center and gives recitals in a wide repertoire in many international and British festivals and venues including Sydney Opera House. She has played concertos with orchestras such as the Polish and Czech Radio Symphonies, Wurttemburg and Munich Chamber, the Royal Philharmonic and other London orchestras and for the BBC. Her discography includes 'In Sunlight: Pieces for Madeleine Mitchell' (NMC D098 2005) written for her by well known British composers including MacMillan and Nyman; 'British Treasures' (Somm CD 031) early 20th century romantic violin sonatas with Andrew Ball and Hummel unpublished violin sonatas (Meridian 2004). 'A violinist in a million..Mitchell unrolled a staggering display of virtuosity and unparalleled musicianship.' The Herald, Glasgow 5 Oct 05

Madeleine Mitchell devised the 'Red Violin' - the first international festival of the violin across the arts, under Lord Menuhin's patronage. She is also a Professor at the Royal College of Music and Artistic Director of the London Chamber Ensemble. She won the Tagore Gold Medal as a Foundation Scholar at the RCM and the Fulbright/ITT Fellowship to New York, gaining a master's degree at the Julliard and Eastman schools where she returns to give master classes.


Jonathan Newell (organ, music education)
http://www.www.artsinsight.net/
Jonathan was Organ Scholar of University College Durham, before embarking on a wide-ranging musical and teaching life both in this country and in Norway, Cairo and Vienna. An organist, choir trainer and educationalist, Jonathan has also been involved in music theatre productions throughout most of his career, and was musical director for the northern youth music theatre companies Dionysis and DCYC for ten years.

Elsewhere Jonathan is Deputy Chief Examiner in Music for the International Baccalaureate Diploma, and has led over 20 teacher-training workshops for the IB around the world, as well as his academic duties. He is also a member of the curriculum review committee. Jonathan is also a senior examiner for Trinity Guildhall, and otherwise freelances as an organist, accompanist, conductor, voice coach and adjudicator.

At Trinity College of Music, London, Jonathan has been Programme Leader for Foundation and Graduate Programmes of Study & Continuing Professional Development. He is currently an academic professor & module leader, and Senior Mentor for Trinity Guildhall's Profile. Jonathan is also director of ArtsInsight - an organisation which supports teachers and students of the performing arts, and amateur arts organisations - www.artsinsight.net

Jonathan's interests range from languages (he is at his best in Norwegian), to historical sites and other cultures. Others include SCUBA diving (he is a qualified PADI Rescue Diver), the internet, cycling, visits to the gym when he has time, and travel; he has visited over forty countries in the last ten years. He is also an ITEC qualified professional massage therapist.

Jonathan has a Master's Degree in Choral Education from the University of Surrey Roehampton, UK - the only degree of its kind available in Europe - and is an Honorary Fellow of the Cambridge Society of Musicians, this accolade being awarded for distinguished services to Music and Music Education in the UK.


Adele Paxton (opera singer (soprano))
Described as "heart-rending" (Sunday Times, London), with a "soaring soprano voice" (East Anglian Times), and "nothing short of stunning" (The Orcadian), Adele Paxton has been acclaimed for performances on stage and concert platform. Named Commonwealth Musician of the Year, Adele was twice a finalist in the Richard Tauber Competition in London and winner of the Royal Over-Seas League Gold Medal, Society of Women Musicians' Award, Ernst and Young Award for Singers, Mary Garden International Medal and numerous other scholarships and prizes from the Peter MooresÕ Foundation, English Speaking Union, Countess of Munster and Scottish International Education Trusts.

Adele Paxton qualified first as a lawyer at Edinburgh University, Scotland, and then studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and Britten-Pears School, Aldeburgh. In UK, she has sung at concert venues on the London South Bank, Wigmore Hall, St PaulÕs and Canterbury Cathedrals, Westminster Abbey and the Barbican. Performances have also taken her to Norway, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Brazil and the USA. She has sung with conductors Sir Charles Mackerras, Steuart Bedford, Yves Abel, David Angus, Graeme Jenkins, Simon Halsey, Stephen Darlington, Jane Glover, Richard Hickox, Philip Ellis and Sian Edwards. She has worked with directors such as Stephen Lawless, Nikolaus Lehnhoff and Elijah Moshinsky. Orchestras include Royal Philharmonic Concert, Bournemouth Symphony, Jersey Symphony, Flanders Philharmonic and Scottish Chamber. She has sung at Wexford, Buxton, Aberdeen, Cheltenham and Aldeburgh International Festivals.

Her operatic debut was at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in a recorded and televised performance of VerdiÕs Stiffelio with Jose Carreras in the title role. She sang the title role in VerdiÕs opera Giovanna D'Arco for Sir Edward Downes with the Amici di Verdi in London. She understudied both Susan Graham and June Anderson at the ROH in the title roles of Ch?rubin (Massenet) and Giovanna DÕArco. For Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Opera Companies she debuted as a Strolling Player (Death in Venice) and Varvara (Katya Kabanova). Other roles have included Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), Hulda (Cesar Franck) and Gilda (Rigoletto). Gian Carlo Menotti personally invited her to sing Geraldine in his production of Barber's A Hand of Bridge. Last summer Adele Paxton was invited to perform and to teach voice to young professional international singers at the Tiroler Opern Programm in Austria.

Adele Paxton recorded for the BBC Young Artists' Recital Series working with pianist, Malcolm Martineau. Her Purcell Room, London debut was under the auspices of The Park Lane Group. She recently researched the song settings of the English poet Walter de la Mare and presented some of her findings in concert to the Walter de la Mare Society in London. She has given world premieres of works by Andrew Lovett and Sally Beamish and performed chamber music with the Leda Piano Trio, Britten-Pears Ensemble and the Ellerdale Trio in London.

Chithra Ramakrishnan (Indian music and dance)
chithra.ramakrishnan@gmail.com
'Music has enriched my life immeasurably and helped me look at life with optimism and positivity. It has helped strengthen my spiritual and religious bonds and made me count my blessings.'

Chithra started her musical career at a very young age and was blessed with the opportunity to learn from renowned teachers in classical music (Carnatic) and dance in India. She has performed extensively in India, the Middle East and the United Kingdom, and has also featured in South Indian premier television channels. She has performed as a youth artist at the All India Radio, Mangalore, and Karnataka. She is also a regular performer at Indian music festivals and has received critical acclaim. Chithra has launched four music albums in Indian classical and Fusion, widely received and appreciated.

She has also made her debut as a playback artist in South Indian movies. Besides classical events and concerts, she also conducts Karaoke events in Bollywood music in the UK. Besides her musical achievements, Chithra is also a trained dancer in the South Indian classical style, Bharatnatyam.

Her workshops in Indian music and dance focus on different age groups and involve interactive sessions with children and the community at large, creating an awareness of and interest in the rich Indian tradition through music, dance and Indian culture.

It is Chithra's desire to propagate the rich South Inidan art forms globally. To meet this objective, Shruthi UK, a non-profit organisation, was formed and is now based in Staffordshire, England: http://www.shruthiuk.com/.

Chithra has an MBA in Marketing and Finance, an MBA in Human Resources, and a doctorate in Management.