The NLMS Team

Ensemble directors & conductors

Instrumental tutors

Margaret Archibald (clarinet). Margaret has an infectious enthusiasm for music as recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral player, teacher, coach and lecturer. She has travelled widely in Japan, the USA and Europe performing on modern and historical clarinets. She was Sub-Principal Clarinet of the London Mozart Players 1984-2012 and for twenty-one years the LMP’s Education and Community Manager. She has performed with many of the major period instrument orchestras including the Academy of Ancient Music, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, English Concert, Gabrieli Consort, Hanover Band, London Classical Players and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Margaret passionately believes that music is for sharing, and in 2010 she founded the charity Everyone Matters that now takes a wide range of projects into schools, special schools, nursing homes, day centres and the wider community. A focus on intergenerational projects has given young musicians the opportunity to rehearse with professionals in order to perform alongside them in care centres for older people, including many living with dementia.

Ryan Higgin (trombone)

Ruth Beedham (Sinfonietta – cello) studied at Trinity College of Music with Alison Wells and Natasha Pavlutskaya. Whilst at Trinity Ruth won the Leonard Smith Prize for string and piano duo and was awarded a scholarship to continue her studies with a postgraduate diploma. She now studies privately with Naomi Butterworth.

Ruth is a member of The Backman Trio – a Finnish/British trio who have performed extensively across both countries. In 2012 they performed at the new music hall in Helsinki and made a recording for Finnish radio station YLE 1. Last year they launched their debut CD “Fantasia” (British and Finish piano trios) on Finish label Fuga. Ruth has been guest soloist with Wandsworth Symphony Orchestra and St Paul’s Sinfonia, and has made a solo demo recording for Oscar-winning film composer Rachel Portman.

In addition to her performing work Ruth enjoys a busy and varied teaching career that includes City of London School and Blackheath Conservatoire.

Nichola Blakey (Sinfonietta – viola) studied at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with first class honours and gaining the Licentiate teaching diploma. She now teaches violin and viola, both privately and at the North London Music Centre, and she is a qualified Alexander Technique teacher.

As a freelance player Nichola works with such orchestras as the BBC Philharmonic, the Orchestra of Opera North, the 18th. Century Sinfonia, The Brook Street Band and the Orchestra of Ex Cathedra. She also performs with various chamber groups, including the Kertész Quartet, a classical string quartet using period instruments, and in non-classical contexts for various artists and bands around the UK and abroad.

Jo Bradley (Symphony Orchestra – double bass). After 4 years at Trinity college of music and a time of playing with various orchestras, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, I joined the Orchestra of Opera North, where I spent 10 wonderful years. I left after my second child to become a full-time mum and slowly began to train as a Kodàly specialist in the delivery of music education from cradle to KS2/KS3.

A mixed bag of freelancing and Musical education specialist teaching led me to the Head of junior music post at Heathfield School, junior School to Rishworth. 15 years of  making music very important in education. Through all this time I have had the privilege of tutoring For National Children’s Orchestra of GB, some 26 plus years, National Schools Symphony Orchestra and The Benedetti Foundation since its launch in 2019.

Bass playing is my first love and spreading the joy of its wonder and versatility. My ethos..  Everyday’s a School day…..

Jan Cowell (Sinfonietta – double bass) 

Graham Dolby (woodwind co-ordinator and bassoon tutor) read music at Anglia Ruskin University, where he studied flute, bassoon and piano accompaniment, and played sax in the Big Band. As well as his degree, he holds a teaching diploma from the Guildhall School of Music.

He teaches woodwind instruments in several schools in and around Cambridge, including St Faith’s, The Leys, The Perse Preparatory School, Hills Road Sixth Form College and Sawston Village College, where he also conducts the Wind Band. Graham has long played bassoon orchestrally (in the Sampson Orchestra, East Anglian Chamber Orchestra, and the K.239 Chamber Orchestra). Having left the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra in 1996 as Simply Reeds began to take off, he then returned to play clarinet in 2001 and has been co-principal clarinet since 2007. In January 2006, Graham joined the Huntingdonshire Philharmonic Orchestra as first oboe; he also plays the oboe in the wind quintet ‘Cambridge Winds’.

Cathy Fox (Sinfonietta – violin) studied with Gillian Findlay at Trinity College of Music. After graduating, she taught for Newham Music Service, Brighton College and the London Oratory School. Cathy teaches the violin at Centre for Young Musicians and coaches the LSSO 2nd violin sectionals. This year she has been performing with London Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales (with an occasional ridiculously brief trip to Dubai thrown in). Her favourite recent concerts have been an Enescu Symphony, a percussion concerto with Colin Currie and a John Williams 90th birthday celebration. Her happiest 2020 memories were of cycling around a car-free London in the sunshine.

Liz Fyfe (oboe). Born and brought up in Scotland, Liz Fyfe read Natural Sciences at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge where she was also one of their first Instrumental Scholars. She continued her studies at the Guildhall in London as a Sir James Caird Scholar, during which time she was a member of the European Youth Orchestra and was awarded the Orchestral Wind prize.

After leaving the Guildhall, Liz returned to Scotland as principal oboe of the Scottish Opera Orchestra for several years before moving back to London to freelance. Here she led a varied musical life working, recording and touring with all the major London orchestras and chamber groups. She has always had a soft spot for the cor anglais, and was delighted to become principal cor with the Royal Opera House Orchestra for ten years while Bernard Haitink was the Musical Director. This was a golden period, playing for legendary conductors such as George Solti, Claudio Abbado and Simon Rattle, and performing, recording and broadcasting constantly.

She has four children, lives in Marlborough, and, as the impact of family life and living outside London made itself clear, she has concentrated more on teaching and educational work. As well as teaching at Wells Cathedral Music School as their Oboe Specialist, she adjudicates and coaches a wide selection of groups of all ages, including the National Children’s Orchestra, the Wells International Summer School and Benslow and loves seeing her pupils develop and craft their own professional career paths both here and abroad.

Judith Van Ingen (Symphony Orchestra – violin) studied the violin and chamber music at the Royal Academy of Music with Rosemary Rapaport and Sydney Griller. Since leaving the Hallé Orchestra she freelances with many modern instrument orchestras across the country including English National Ballet, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Concert Orchestra et al. and she teaches at The Queen’s School, Chester and Liverpool University. Judith plays with period instrument groups (Baroque and Classical) and manages the 18th Century Concert Orchestra – an orchestra whose members play instruments of the period and perform in period costume.

David Lewis (Symphony Orchestra – leader) studied violin, viola and conducting at the Royal College of Music, London and commenced his professional career with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera. He participated in many landmark performances and recordings with the company, working with artists such as Goodall, Pavarotti and Sutherland.
Since becoming freelance David has worked with major orchestras throughout the UK and abroad. He has worked in film, and on stage with RSC.  His concerto credits include those of JS Bach, Mozart, Max Bruch and Vivaldi (4 seasons).

David has also performed with period instrument groups such as AAM, Age of Enlightenment, and Florilegium. He has toured Canada with the 18th Century Concert Orchestra, a period ensemble he leads and directs.

David is a gifted string coach, and a regular tutor and adjudicator on both summer music schools and music competitions.

Joshua Lynch (Symphony Orchestra – cello) Recipient of the Freda Dinn and Ida Marbett Award, St James Chamber Music Prize and the Musiciens Entre Guerre et Paix, Joshua Lynch is a passionate devotee of chamber music and has already enjoyed a diverse and creative career. Joshua studied with Emma Ferrand and Gillian Today at the Royal Northern College of Music and then continued his studies with Ursula Smith at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Joshua is the cellist of the Celia Quartet, who are mentored by the Quartetto di Cremona and Simon Rowland-Jones. The quartet are part of the ‘Le Dimore del Quartetto’ and ‘Lincoln Center Stage’ networks and have enjoyed several tours in Italy, Sicily and the UK. Most recent highlights have included performing at the North Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and performing Schumann’s Piano Quintet as part of the Festival Note di un Sogno with Stefania Cafaro in Umbria. Joshua has performed at the Wigmore Hall, The Crucible (MitR), St Martin-in-the-Field and Salisbury International Arts Festival.

Away from the concert platform, Joshua has also enjoyed working alongside several bands, most notably New Order, The Charlatans, Daughter and Blossoms, as well as Mancunian poet, Mike Garry. Joshua is the Principal cellist of the Cambridge Philharmonic and has played with the London Symphony Orchestra and Britten Sinfonia. He also works regularly with his duo partner, pianist Sally Birkett, and they enjoy a busy concert schedule.

Away from performing, Joshua is a passionate teacher and holds the position of cello tutor at the Stephen Perse Foundation in Cambridge. He is a chamber music tutor at the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and a regular tutor at ProCorda, Aboyne Cello Festival and NLMS Summer School.

Sarah Moore (flute) enjoys a busy performance schedule as an orchestral player and as a chamber musician, both on modern and period instruments. She performs with period instrument orchestras such as the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, Newcastle Baroque, Northern Baroque, Leeds Baroque and the Eighteenth-Century Sinfonia. Sarah also performs with Bellissime Chamber Ensemble, which specialises in performing music from country houses, and she has been involved in recordings of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion and Mass in B minor with the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, released on the Signum Classics label.

Sarah studied modern and baroque flute with Edwina Smith during her undergraduate degree at the University of York. She was awarded AHRC grants to pursue her postgraduate studies in York and, after completing her MA with distinction, she was awarded a PhD on rhetoric and baroque performance practice with Professor Seymour.

Teaching forms an important part of her career. She has taught modern and baroque flute at the universities of York and Hull, and at Ampleforth College, and she has led seminars, master-classes and workshops for undergraduates at the universities of York and Hull.

Brenda Stewart (Symphony Orchestra – viola) has been a member of the Bingham String Quartet since its formation in 1985. With the quartet she has travelled extensively in this country and abroad, and has been active in education at Radley College, the Benslow Music Trust, and chamber music courses in Shropshire and Norfolk. Her wide-ranging teaching activities have included long-standing commitments at the Junior Royal Academy, Queenswood School, Radley College and the Mary Ward Centre, London, where she taught adult beginners, coached chamber groups and conducted the string orchestra. She continues to perform professionally alongside her duties as Rector of the West Leightonstone Benefice in the Diocese of Ely.

Choir tutors & accompanist

Eleanor Garside (soprano) is a graduate of the University of Manchester, the Royal Northern College of Music and English National Opera’s professional development course Opera Works.

Eleanor has performed operatic roles including Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance (Silk Opera), Belinda in Dido and Aeneas (Opera Hesperia), Jano in Jenufa (Grange Park Opera), Papagena in The Magic Flute (Young Opera Venture) and Aunt Norris in Mansfield Park (Waterperry Opera). She recently performed as a member of the Royal Opera House chorus during the 2025 Spring/Summer season.

A frequent soloist with choral societies across the country, Eleanor has recently performed Handel’s Messiah with Lincoln Cathedral Choir, Bach St John Passion with the Beverley Chamber Choir and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the University of Manchester Chorus. She is also a member of the Jervaulx Singers, a professional chamber choir based in Yorkshire.

Emily Harrison (alto) has held positions in Bristol as an Alto Lay Clerk, and was a scholar at Exeter in the Cathedral Choir. Having grown up in Scotland, she was a member of NYCoS, Scottish Opera Connect and both Edinburgh and Aberdeen University Chamber Choirs, performing at the BBC Proms, touring America, and in various cities across Europe.

Emily obtained her Bachelor of Music from Edinburgh Napier University. Throughout her singing career she has been involved in opera productions such as the title role in Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, The Judgement of Paris – John Eccles, and Jake Heggie’s contemporary work To Hell and Back.

Alongside other choirs, she has been fortunate enough to sing with Carice Singers, Jervaulx Singers, The Early Music Collective, echo choir, Edington Festival Consort, The Fitzhardinge Consort and is an alumnus of the Genesis Sixteen programme.

Most recently, Emily has been involved in the filming and singing of Alan Bennett’s new feature film ‘The Choral’.

David Horton (tenor) hails from Devon and studied at the Alexander Gibson Opera School at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) under the tutelage of Scott Johnson and was a grateful recipient of a scholarship from the RCS Trust. Previous training includes a BMus Hons from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and a year spent in Australia.

David’s many recent operatic appearances include Dr Watson Sherlock Holmes, a new commission for the Northern Opera Group, Spirit of the Wood The Snowmaiden for English Touring Opera, Marquis Ernesto in Haydn’s La vera Costanza for New Chamber Opera, Remendado Carmen for Waterperry Opera, Dancing Master Manon Lescaut and Gravedigger 1 in Kurt Weill’s The Silver Lake for English Touring Opera, Shepherd in Monteverdi’s Orfeo for Garsington Opera, Don Basilio and Don Curzio Le nozze di Figaro for Mid Wales Opera, and Frederick Pirates of Penzance for the Celebrate Voice Festival.

His future plans include his full debut in summer 2025 with Longborough Festival Opera as Der Meisterjünger in Avner Dorman’s Wahnfried.

His other roles include the title role in Bernstein’s Candide with Iford Arts Festival and  Vanderdendur/Theodore Candide for West Green House Opera, Henry Crawford in Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park for Waterperry Opera,  Moon/King of the East in Dove’s The Enchanted Pig (Hampstead Garden Opera), The Lover/The Friend/The Preacher in Judith Weir’s The Vanishing Bridegroom and a number of roles in English Eccentrics (British Youth Opera), Eisenstein Die Fledermaus and Tristan Le Vin Herbé (RCS Opera), and Gaudienzo Il Signor Bruschino (Raucous Rossini).

His recordings include the role of John in C.V. Stanford’s The Travelling Companion for New Sussex Opera to great critical acclaim, with performances at Cadogan Hall, London and Saffron Hall, plus a film of motets by Guillaume de Machaut, recorded and released on ETO’s ETO at Home service.

Jonty Ward (bass) is a British bass-baritone, director, and organist based in York. Jonty currently holds the position of bass Vicar Choral at York Minster having taken up the position in September 2020. Jonty is an alumnus of the Genesis Sixteen programme, and held the Ex Cathedra graduate scholarship from 2020 until mid 2022.

As a soloist Jonty enjoys singing regularly with ensembles across Yorkshire and the surrounding area from Liverpool to Whitby including works from Bach to Poulenc and everything in between! As a choral singer Jonty is increasingly in demand across the country and internationally. To date he has performed with artists including: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Tenebrae Choir, Monteverdi Choir, Ex Cathedra, Liverpool Bach Collective, Ex Corde Ensemble, I Fagiolini,  Instruments of Time and Truth, The Lerion Consort, and others.

Alongside his work as a singer, Jonty is Director of Music at St Lawrence Parish Church, York, Operations & Project Delivery manager at York Music Hub and manages the White Rose Consort, a professional vocal ensemble based in York.

Jonathan Lee (accompanist)  studied at the Junior Royal Academy of Music, in Stellenbosch (South Africa), and at Cambridge University. Whilst at Cambridge he read for a degree in music, was an organ scholar at Sidney Sussex College, and studied the organ with both Nicholas Kynaston and John Wellingham. Prior to Cambridge, he was assistant organist at the Diocesan College in Cape Town. Jonathan has been organist at Berkhamsted Parish Church since Advent 2002, and in 2016 year he accompanied the church choir in a private concert for HM The Queen a few weeks after her 90th birthday.

Accompanying and continuo work takes him all around Europe including work with the Gewandhauschor and the Bach Choir of Madrid (on Spanish television) as well as work much closer to home, and he is the regular accompanist of the Chiltern Chamber Choir. Jonathan is staff accompanist on the NLMS music course, and in 2017 he directed the RSCM National Course in South Africa. He has been musical director of Berkhamsted’s Castle Choir since its launch in 2013.

Jonathan was for many years a music editor working for ABRSM, and has been responsible for several sets of the ubiquitous ABRSM piano exam anthologies.  He is a peripatetic piano teacher at Berkhamsted School, where he is also school organist.

NLMS administration

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Suzanne Meaden – Administrator & Treasurer
Suzanne is the tireless NLMS Administrator, giving NLMS countless hours of work, years of experience, and an attention to fine detail second to none.

Tessa Crilly – Chair of Trustees
Tessa has been a course member on violin for many years, and is also an accomplished singer. She brings a huge fund of business knowledge to NLMS.

Miriam Westendarp – Office Manager
Miriam is on site for the duration of the Summer School, manning the office (in the Uppingham School Library) and generally keeping everything running during the course.