Our team

Caroline Heslop MMus LTCL is London based with many years’ experience as a music journalist, composer, FE lecturer and pianist. Her belief in the capacity that creativity in the arts has to improve quality of life, outlook and self-esteem is central to the ethos of the work of NW Live Arts. She is committed to seeing NW Live Arts establish itself as an important cultural hub bringing communities and talented musicians closer together.

Milly is a freelance arts marketing specialist with clients including NW Live Arts and City Music Foundation, Newbury Spring Festival and Bath Festival Orchestra, Saffron Hall and Cappella Newcastle. She has also worked in marketing with the chamber orchestra Britten Sinfonia, at Newnham College, Cambridge, and at the Association of British Orchestras. In her spare time, Milly plays guitar and is a keen photographer.

Andrea is an experienced arts manager who has worked for organisations such as the Royal College of Music, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, ChamberStudio and Arts Council England. She is the founder and Executive Director of Synfonia, a charity which takes musicians into schools, creating bespoke programmes using the power of music to bring the curriculum to life. She has been involved in music-making since she was very young and will bend the ear of anyone who cares to listen about the huge range of benefits that it can bring.

Rhia Parker is a recorder player, singer, composer, facilitator and teacher. Her work encompasses a diverse range of settings and contexts, celebrating creativity, community and self-expression. Rhia has worked extensively in healthcare settings, including delivering an award-winning music project in the Care for the Elderly wards at UCLH and Royal Free Hospital. With her quartet Breakfast Club, Rhia has delivered projects in partnership with The Barbican and Women for Refugee Women and the Magpie Project. She has facilitated community projects with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Drumworks and Aldeburgh Young Musicians. Alongside her role as a tutor of Collaborative and Social Arts Practice at the Guildhall School of Music, Rhia records and performs her own work and has a released two albums.

Danai is from a corporate background having held leadership positions in the financial services. Her priority with NW Live Arts is to further the mission of the organisation through focusing on increasing representation, creating long term funding streams and providing key strategic support to the existing team.

Jane read Music at Oxford University, plays the bassoon with several amateur orchestras and is founder and director of her own accountancy firm. In this capacity, she works with a range of orchestras, musicians and artistic projects and with several charities engaged in health, social and international development.

Henrietta, from Derbyshire, is a London-based violist who enjoys a varied musical career with a special interest in chamber music and contemporary music. She works for numerous arts organisations, as a performer, freelancer and educator.

Sarah was born in to music. Her father, Christopher Monk, restored the Renaissance instrument, the serpent, from obscurity and Sarah has had a long and successful career in arts marketing and production. Currently, she produces the podcast series Materially Speaking – where artists and artisans tell their stories through the materials they choose. She is an invaluable advisor for the marketing strategy of  the charity.

Sophie is a musician, educator and project manager with over 17 years’ experience working in arts education. A passionate advocate for the transformative power of the arts to change lives, she is thrilled to be working with NW Live Arts alongside her role at Southbank Centre as Creative Learning Manager for Emerging Artists.

Jason is a London based photographer and has worked for a wide variety of clients particularly in the editorial and design fields. He is the founder and director of picture library, Millennium Images in London, and brings many years experience of managing international business operations to his role as trustee. He plays the violin with Hertford Chamber Orchestra and chamber music with friends.

Armin is Interim Director of Music & Head of Vocal Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In his time at the GSMD, Armin has expanded performance opportunities for students, establishing the School’s ‘…at Six’ concert series and commissioning new work for the ‘Reflective Conservatoire’ and ‘Extraordinary Voices Festival’. He is much appreciated by NW Live Arts for his commitment to broadening social and community engagement with classical music and helping us to build connections to achieve this in our work.