Management Team

In her positions with both the National Youth Choirs and National Youth Orchestra Nina has been responsible for the creation and implementation of new philanthropic strategies which have played a critical role in their development and growth. Alongside these roles, Nina has also worked as a consultant to Help Musicians UK, Longborough Festival Opera and Gabrieli Consort & Players, providing business development support and advice on fundraising and governance. In 2018, Nina became a Trustee of the D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust.

She held the post of Vocal Director for In Harmony Opera North (Classic FM’s Music Education Project of the Year 2014) and spent several years establishing the Opera North Children’s Chorus. Rachel has also worked as a conductor with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain for over a decade.

In 2014, Rachel was made Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, in recognition of her contribution to choral music and work with young people. She is passionate about using choral music to inspire young people from all backgrounds and dedicates her career to this mission.

He now spends the majority of his spare time playing tennis. He also enjoys swimming, Pilates, reading, cinema, theatre and of course music. He is a member of Epsom Choral Society as a first bass.

At Chineke! Foundation, she worked with the musicians of Europe's first majority Black, Asian and ethnically diverse professional and junior orchestras, nurturing young talent, providing the Chineke! Juniors with a welcoming environment to confidently perform at prestigious venues, such as Royal Festival Hall and Kensington Palace. Ishani developed multiple learning partnerships with music hubs, venues and other charities across England, taking Chineke! Orchestra professional musicians into primary and secondary schools to lead workshops in performance and creative composition.

She is a Trustee for the charity Music for All and a member of Dulwich Symphony Orchestra, playing second violin, where she ran an orchestra outreach programme and is also a Trustee. Ishani established a new charity, Draper Together with the residents of the Draper Estate in London SE1, bringing a diverse community together through arts-based events such as cultural festivals, a theatre season and concerts in the community hall. In 2016, she achieved a Masters (Distinction) in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy from Goldsmiths, University of London and was a Development Placement with the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT). Ishani has been a TV Researcher for BBC Specialist Factual Arts and an independent educational film producer.

Before joining LYC, Tom spent five years at the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras – running their young artist development scheme, fixing and managing John Eliot Gardiner’s Monteverdi Choir and undertaking various fundraising roles. Outside office hours, he can often be found racing across the country on his bike, singing in various choirs around London, or indulging his love of cats and other animals.

A keen singer, Alice was the singing teacher at Princess Frederica primary school for three years, and enjoys singing with choirs around London as well as putting on the occasional recital. They studied English literature at university, graduating with a first from Bristol and going on to complete a masters at UCL, and is fascinated by interdisciplinary study, leading to her dissertation on poetry and music in the work of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Outside of work, Alice enjoys reading feminist literature, and spends most of their time coercing people into reading more Sylvia Townsend Warner and Ursula le Guin.

Freddie currently sits on the Board of Trustees at The National Foundation for Youth Music and is a member of the Music Cities Network’s European Music Business Task Force.

While studying music, Zoe was fascinated by the link between music and emotion, and decided to make this the subject of her dissertation, before studying an MSc Psychology (conversion), also at the University of Nottingham (but entirely online, due to the pandemic). Outside of music and psychology, Zoe is a keen cricket fan and plays for St. Alban's Women.

Julian was a member of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain at the same time as LYC Artistic Director Rachel Staunton. A former professional singer with an MA from the Royal Academy of Music, he switched to Arts administration in 2013, working initially for Decca Records and Classic FM. Since 2019 he is General Manager of the GRAMMY-nominated Baroque ensemble Arcangelo, supporting and developing the group's UK and worldwide concert and recording activities under its Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen.

Shortly after leaving Saffron Hall, he became Development Director for Music Masters, a position he held for five years, before going freelance in June this year. Having been a chorister from a young age, Will is a passionate advocate for the importance of music and the arts in the lives of young people.