Adjudicators

Music:

Jeffrey Wynne Davies, ARCM, LTCL, CertEd (Vocal) MORE

Kathryn Hardman GRSM, ARMCM (Strings) MORE

Graeme Humphrey, ARAM (Piano) MORE

Helen Sanderson (Guitars) MORE

David Straughan BA. CertEd. ARCM. (Brass) MORE

Gillian Johnston AGSM (Woodwind/Recorders) MORE

Speech & Drama:

Rosemary Graham LGSM, Hon.FLAM MORE

Folk, Creative and Freestyle Dance:

Pollyann Tanner MORE

 

 

 

POLLYANN TANNER is a well-known director, choreographer, performer and teacher now based in Swindon, who first performed at the age of two! 2008 was the 37th anniversary of her professional career. As a performer she has played leading roles in many West End musicals, national tours, rep theatre and more than 35 pantomimes, alongside many leading names including Charles Dance, Danny la Rue, Wayne Sleep, Barbara Windsor to name but a few. She presented a popular Saturday morning show and can be seen on numerous TV commercials worldwide. At 19, Pollyann became assistant choreographer to Carole Todd and has since been involved in a diverse range of projects such as musicals, pantos, national tours, commercials, trade and fashion shows, cabarets, youth and community projects, cheerleaders, Tiller girls on the radio (for H.M. the Queen) the ex British ice skating pairs champions and many award winning commissioned works. She is now a director of the Tanwood School for Performing Arts, but as a qualified teacher still freelances in schools and colleges and fitness institutions around the country and directs and choreographs shows for many local and countrywide organisations. Pollyann was involved in the conception of the ‘Summer Youth Project’ and has since directed/choreographed 18 musicals in Swindon, 1 in Hayes and 6 in Birmingham. Pollyann hails from a truly theatrical family; Mother – dance teacher/adjudicator; Father – pianist; Husband – technical manager; Brother–in–law – ex-Royal Ballet principal; 3 children (19,17,8) all of whom are already ‘ in the business ‘. We are pleased that Pollyann is able to return to Hereford in 2010.

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JEFFREY WYNN DAVIES trained as a singer with the Lyndon Vanderpump in Cambridge and Ellis Keeler at the RNCM. He spent some time as an oratorio soloist and recitalist before deciding on a career in music education. He taught music in high schools and then spent a number of years as a local education authority music adviser, establishing and developing music centres, youth orchestras and choirs. Since 1993 he has worked extensively as a choral conductor and trainer. His national reputation in this field includes the winning of the BBC Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year title with his chamber choir Canzonetta. He directed the internationally renowned Manchester Boys Choir between 2001 and 2007, Harrogate Choral Society between 1991 and 2005 and in September last year was instrumental in founding Canzonetta Children’s Choirs. His 250 strong South of England Festival Chorus meets annually each summer to perform major works in southern Cathedral venues. He has been involved in workshops for all the major British choral organisations and has directed seven choral festivals for the BBC. As well as being, year in, year out, one of the British Federation of Festivals busiest general music adjudicators, he has judged at many international choral competitions throughout Europe, including Prague, Verona and Malta. He has served on a number of national bodies, including BBC Central Music Advisory Committee and the Council of the Association of British Choral Directors, for whose annual Convention he has twice been Artistic Director. Hereford Festival is extremely pleased to welcome Jeffrey back in 2010.

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Kathryn Hardman trained as a violinist at the Royal Manchester (now Royal Northern) College of Music, graduating with Distinction both in teaching and performance. She subsequently worked as a freelance musician in the North West, performing in chamber and orchestral ensembles, and also teaching at the RNCM. She held the post of Head of Strings for the former County of Avon from 1985 to 1991, since when she has established an extensive and highly successful private teaching practice in Bristol. Kathryn also teaches for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and for Bristol University Music Department. She is also in demand as a festival adjudicator and as a tutor on many courses in the UK, including the National Youth Chamber Orchestra, National Children’s Orchestra and others. For many years she has run a chamber music course for advanced pianist and string players, “Novacorda” in Bristol. Other interests (time permitting!) are travel, Shakespeare, art galleries and walking. We are very pleased to welcome Kathryn to Hereford for the first time.

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GRAEME HUMPHREY has been a Professor of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music since 1974 and has been very actively involved in festival adjudicating, examining and teaching; this work has taken him to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Italy Singapore, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, France, Sabah, Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand and Ghana. He was awarded an Associate Board Scholarship on the piano from New Zealand to study at the Royal Academy of Music. While at the RAM he developed particular interests in chamber music, accompanying and teaching and has enjoyed a career based on these activities. He has broadcast many times on BBC Radio 3 (principally in the piano trio repertoire) and has performed at the Bath and Harrogate Festivals, the Purcell Room and Wigmore Halls in London, as well as at many music clubs in the United Kingdom. He is also very active in the giving of seminars to teachers, both in the United Kingdom and abroad, and maintains a substantial private teaching practice in London with pupils of all ages and stages. Since 1993 he has tutored at the Hereford International Summer School and was made Music Director of the Summer School in 2004. In 1997 he was elected Warden of the Private Teachers’ Section of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and in 2002 was elected President of the Royal Academy of Music Club. Graeme is always welcome at the Herefordshire Festival and we are pleased he will be joining us again in 2010.

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Helen Sanderson studied guitar at the Royal College of Music with Charles Ramirez, graduating with both the Madeline Walton prize for guitar and the prestigious Anthony Saltmarsh Bursary. Helen’s active concert career has included concerts at major international guitar festivals and recitals at the Purcell Room, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Academy of Arts (Berlin), the British Embassy (Vienna) and the Barbican Centre. In addition to her solo performing, Helen is a member of the VIDA Guitar Ensemble and is much in demand as an accompanist for voice and guitar repertoire, working in partnerships with Mark Wilde, Susan Legg and James Bowman. Since 2007, Helen has been the Director of the World Youth Guitar Festival and the Winchester Guitar Festival. We are very pleased to welcome Helen to our Festival for the first time.

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DAVID STRAUGHAN has been involved with education and music making throughout his career. Having trained as a teacher, his initial teaching years were spent in the West Midlands as a classroom teacher of secondary music, and as an instrument teacher to pupils and adults of all ages. After a period as head of music in secondary schools and a senior position as a head of arts faculty, he took on the responsibilities of a local authority schools’ inspector for music in Wirral. This post, which he held for twenty two years,included responsibility for the visual arts. As an educationalist, he has worked with all ages of children and his work as an OFSTED inspector took him into all sectors of education. As a musician, he has performed at a professional level across a wide spectrum of musical styles but now is more active as a conductor of youth and community groups, particularly wind bands. He has travelled and worked extensively throughout Europe with youth and adult ensembles. He works as an adjudicator across the United Kingdom, and is a member of The British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech. We are pleased to welcome him to Hereford for the first time.

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Gillian Johnson studied the Bassoon with Archie Camden and Roger Birnstingle at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After a period of freelance playing at home and abroad, she concentrated on a teaching career, before moving to Harpenden where together with her husband, David Johnston, she established her own Music School, Harpenden Musicale. From small beginnings, Musicale has grown into one of the largest institutions of its type in this country, known as Musicale Ltd (www.musicale.co.uk). As well as the day to day running of the Music School, Gill arranges holiday music courses, (Musicale Holidays), competitions and the Harpenden Summer Music Festival. Gill is the founder and Musical Director of the National Children’s Wind Orchestra and associated groups (www.ncwo.or.uk). She is increasingly in demand as an adjudicator and very much enjoys the contact with the young musician and seeing lots of new places around the country! She has four children, all of whom are musicians: sons Magnus, violinist and BBC New Generation Artist; Guy, cellist, BBC Young Musician 2000 and daughter Izzy, who plays in Escala, finalists in Britain’s Got Talent 2008. Gill adjudicated for us some years ago and we are extremely pleased to welcome her back to Hereford.

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ROSEMARY GRAHAM was previously a stage manager, but after bringing up her family, she studied for and gained her licentiate and has taught drama and theatre arts in state and independent education, given workshops, business and post-graduate seminars and specialises in individual teaching of speech, drama, presentation and performance. She has acted professionally; designed and directed for amateur theatre in the United Kingdom and abroad and continues to do occasional radio work, poetry readings and interviewing and book recordings. Rosemary has taught English, its use and pronunciation as a second language and for five years was a LAMDA examiner, enjoying the contact with many students and teachers. Interested in all aspects of communication and performance, she is a member of the Society of Teachers of Speech and Drama and an adjudicator member of the British and International Federation of Festivals. She looks forward with great pleasure to sharing in our Festival and we look forward to welcoming her to Hereford for the first time.

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