Meet the Team
Opera is a multi-discipline art form and as such needs a wide range of people and skills. At Jubilee Opera, we believe that children and young people should gain first-hand experience of all of the various aspects of putting on an opera. To help showcase opera’s diversity, we have formed a new Creatives Advisory Group made up of opera professionals – all of whom have strong links to Suffolk and East Anglia. We want our children and young people to interact with professionals from across the operatic spectrum. We also want them to know that there are people doing this for a living many of whom, like them, grew up and/or live in rural and coastal communities. Location, socio-economic status and other barriers should not prevent these young people growing up to be the next generation of professional singers, directors, composers, set designers, technicians etc etc. Our professional team regularly interact with our children and young people in workshops, mentoring, and in productions. Tom Appleton – Our CEO and Artistic Director who has delivered work for organisations such as Britten Pears Arts, Britten Sinfonia, the Monteverdi Choir in places like the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Opera Comique in Paris. Elenor Bowers-Jolly – A freelance Soprano and Opera Administrator based in Norfolk who sings with the Monteverdi Choir and the King’s Consort. She is especially interested in school and community projects. Emma Bernard – A Diss based Opera Director who directs inclusive community operas in East Anglia and beyond. Ben Parry – A Suffolk based composer, conductor and the Artistic Director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. He regularly works with Jubilee Opera at the Britten Pears Arts performances of The Snowman each Christmas. John Ramster – An award winning Opera Director, Educator and Writer who grew up in East Suffolk and is now Associate Head of Vocal Studies at the Guildhall. Charmian Bedford – Charmian performed in Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh Beach in 2013. She is a freelance Soprano who grew up in London and East Suffolk. Charmian regularly sings with conductors such as Sir John Eliot Gardner and at Garsington Opera. Rob Gildon – An East Suffolk based Baritone who trained in New York and now, when not tending to the 21 goats on his small-holding at home, he works for organisations like English National Opera and Cohere Arts.
