Staff

Manvinder initiated and devised Sing for Pleasure's Young Conductors Programme - an annual scholarship scheme which trains talented young would-be choral conductors in effective choral leadership and prepares them for a career in the field - and has always maintained a 'hands-on' approach as programme director, mentoring and supporting some 35 scholars since its launch.

Alongside his roles at Sing for Pleasure, Manvinder has been Musical Director of the John Lewis Partnership Music Society since 1995, with responsibility for its 15 choirs and an orchestra. He was also a judge for BBC2’s ‘The Choir’ with Gareth Malone. In addition, he is Musical Director of Serafine Chamber Choir and Sinfonia with whom he released the premiere recording of Oliver Tarney’s Magnificat. In 2016, Manvinder was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, York St John University, for his services to music and conducting.

Dr Charles MacDougall is an award-winning tenor, choral director, vocal coach, and music education specialist, known equally for his singing and his transformative work with choirs and singers. As The Voices Foundation’s Choral Director, he is responsible for leading the team of choral practitioners, supporting them through mentoring and training, and for the training of new practitioners. He works very closely with the Programme Manager and Musicianship Director on development of programmes, takes a leading role in the development of our pedagogy, nurtures key partnerships and has an ambassadorial role for the charity, representing The Voices Foundation out and about. Since 2015, Charles has been a leading figure in the development of the choral strand for the foundation, working as choral practitioner before taking on the role of Choral Director in 2020. In 2018 he was part of the team that received the Music Teacher Award for Excellence in Primary/Early Years (for creation and delivery of the VF/DRET Singing Schools pilot programme), he directed the world premiere of David Bruce’s Songs of Home for the 25th anniversary of The Voices Foundation at St. John’s, Smith Square, while in 2020 he helped devise and deliver the daily VF Virtual Sing for children on lockdown. More recently, in 2021, he wrote the first volume of Inside Singing, our first choral resource for primary school choir leaders.

Outside of The Voices Foundation, Charles is an accomplished singer, choral conductor and vocal coach. Formerly a member of internationally-acclaimed vocal ensemble VOCES8 (2005-12), he now sings for a number of other ensembles, such as Gabrieli Consort, London Voices and London Early Opera, as well as undertaking solo engagements internationally. He is Vocal Ensembles Coach and Tutor in Vocal Studies at Junior Trinity (Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance), is a Chorus Director for Gabrieli ROAR and directs two community choirs in London. He is extremely active as a workshop leader, presenting sessions for the BBC Singers, UK Choir Festival, Association of British Choral Directors, LSO, Philharmonia and Stay at Home Choir. He is also the vocal coach for Pontinova Experience (Zürich), one of a team of coaches offering self-leadership coaching to corporate partners internationally. He is an Ambassador for Britten-Pears Arts, a Trustee of IntoOpera, and a Director and Trustee of the Choral Foundation, Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace. He holds both a BA(Hons) and MA (with Distinction) from Durham University and a PhD from the University of London.

Jennifer’s role as Musicianship Director allows her to expand the organisation’s transformational impact on children by building upon existing practice and principles. She worked as a Voices Foundation Practitioner since 2015, after first encountering them when she was a Music Lead in a Lincolnshire primary school.

As a freelance music education specialist and choral instructor, Jennifer has an established reputation for enthusing adults and children to sing and cultivate their musical skills, working with Music Hubs, S.C.I.T.T. schemes, choirs and several successful community projects. She is a conductor and workshop leader for Scunthorpe Cooperative Junior Choir, focussing on outreach to local schools and professional development for teachers. She also currently works as a Music Subject Lead at St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Brigg, North Lincolnshire, keeping abreast of current education initiatives.

Jennifer began her higher education by reading Music at City University with Voice lessons at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She went on to gain her PGCE at Hull University to become a qualified teacher specialising in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Chris joined Voices Foundation in August 2022 as the Operations Manager, and looks after the finance and HR aspects of Voices Foundation. He holds a Master’s degree in Music from the University of Bristol, where he majored in Composition and History, culminating in an exploration of cartoon music from the 1940s.

Prior to joining Voices Foundation, Chris worked at Sir John Soane’s Museum, the smallest of Britain’s national museums, where he managed private events and the acclaimed monthly ‘Lates’ series. For the 8 years preceding that, Chris headed up the team at LSO St Luke’s, the education centre and commercial events venue of the London Symphony Orchestra. Career highlights include chatting to Sir Colin Davis in the lift, taking a cup of tea to André Previn and being gifted so many boxes of chocolate after an event with Cadbury’s that the team were able to build a fort out of them. He lives in London with his wife, Emma, and their perennially-hungry cat, Mack.

Charlotte trained as an actor at the Guildford School of Acting and performed in regional and touring theatre with companies such as the Guildford Shakespeare Company (GSC) and This is My Theatre. Theatre in education work with GSC inspired her to apply for the Teach First Leadership Development Programme, and she trained and worked as a Primary Teacher in a wonderful school in South Croydon.

Within this role, Charlotte championed music and developed the music curriculum, which resulted in various learning and performance opportunities for the children; from the year 3 cohort singing at the Teach First London Opening Ceremony in 2019, to an online school-wide Christmas Concert during the pandemic. Moving into the charity sector, Charlotte joined STAMMA and worked collaboratively on campaigns, as well as closely with networks and groups to develop supportive and exciting spaces for people who stammer to connect. Joining the Voices Foundation sees Charlotte returning to her loves of music and education, and she is delighted to be taking on the role of Schools Development Manager.

In her role as Programme Manager for Voices Foundation, Amy is responsible for overseeing the delivery of all programmes and manages our talented Artist Practitioners who lead the roll-out of our programmes in schools, multi academy trusts and music education hubs.

Amy is passionate about enhancing children's early years and education through the arts, and also understands first-hand the importance of supporting teachers to develop their knowledge, skills and confidence. A graduate of the Teach First Development Programme, Amy worked as a primary teacher for over eight years in a number of London schools. During this time, she developed a keen interest in children's mental health and well-being and completed a certificate in Counselling Skills for Children using the Arts. After leaving the classroom, she joined Koru Kids as a Childcare Quality Coach focusing on training and policies for new childminders, and also spent a year working with Harwood Child Psychology to help support the growth and administration of the practice.

Amy feels immensely proud to be a part of the Voices Foundation team in helping to transform music education one school at a time so that every child and teacher can find and use their voice.

Previously an art history lecturer, Annwen joined the ranks of fundraisers when Cape Town Opera invited her to join their team. Since swapping sunny Cape Town for lively London in 2010, Annwen has worked for arts, education and health charities including Art UK, Breast Cancer Haven and Carers Network.

Annwen loves music and dancing and has collected experiences from all over the world: learning tabla in San Diego, African and Spanish dance in Cape Town, tango in Poland and Bachata in London. Annwen’ latest diversion is Hallyu - Kpop and Kdramas - which inspired her to take up beginner's Korean language lessons. She loves a challenge and learning, so to prevent herself from scrolling her life away on instagram, in annwen’ spare time she is completing a part-time PhD in art history at SOAS.

Edward is an experienced and enthusiastic marketing professional. For four years, he worked in the marketing team of a global training provider as their head copywriter and developing communication strategies and creating a wide range of written content. Before this, he received his Master’s degree in Marketing from the University of Hertfordshire, to go with his degree in Medieval History he got in Manchester a few years earlier.

He has previously worked in a number of community charities, which have helped young adults with learning disabilities and built educational projects oversees. In his spare time, Edward spent over five years as a volunteer youth leader – developing annual programmes for children of all ages, and developing a training course for future youth leaders.

Joining the Voices team, Edward is excited to be back in the charity sector, as he crafts our message and shares the impact of our work. He’s also keen to see which singing lessons he can learn for himself!