Joining Tenebrae as Concerts Manager just before Christmas season kicked off was always going to be a challenge, but with a busy planned season and big European tours, it was an exciting prospect. However, like the rest of the country, our planning was slightly blindsided by Omicron. It’s meant my first few months at Tenebrae have been busy and full of new and interesting challenges – from learning new systems to negotiating ever moving goal posts for international travel – and I’ve loved every minute of it. There’s nothing quite like hitting the ground running.

Like many people working in the arts, my career was somewhat disrupted by the arrival of Covid – before March 2020 I worked for a classical music agency, taking professional orchestras and ensembles, like the Oslo Philharmonic, on tour around the world. When Covid struck I was in Japan with an ensemble, with a hotel room that looked out on the infamous cruise ship Diamond Princess – the talk of the world’s news.

Osaka, Japan

I have spent much of my career working with musicians and organising travel, starting out working for Martin Randall Travel – a job that took me to places as fascinating and diverse as Iran and Orkney. Some time on furlough, a brief spell working for the Department of Work & Pensions, and a 3-month trip to South Korea have brought me through the last two years up to this new role with Tenebrae.

Persepolis, Iran

In a traditional Korean Hanbok

Despite reading History and completing a Master’s in Medieval History, I have always had a strong background in choral music. Growing up in Gloucester and singing with the Cathedral Youth Choir, I gained a Choral Scholarship at University in Glasgow and have sung in various choirs in London, including the Bach Choir. Musically it’s where my heart lies.

With a love for travel and choral music, both personally and professionally, working with Tenebrae really is my dream job. The opportunity to work alongside and tour with one of the best choirs in the world is a real privilege, even when the pandemic’s twists and turns mean that things can be a little chaotic! I’m looking forward to so many of our concerts this year, but particularly the concert celebrating the release of our new CD, When Sleep Comes, at St Martin in the Fields in April; Miserere, mei Deus in St Thomaskirche, Leipzig where Bach was Kapellmeister; and the performances of Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles in Rocamadour in August.