Truda White – Vice Chair
Truda was Head Teacher at Highbury Grove School, and the driving force behind the development of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Programme that MiSST operates today. Over 12 pioneering years of Truda’s leadership, the school was transformed, earning an Ofsted “Outstanding” rating. By 2012 the school was able to give every student a classical instrument upon admission as well as weekly tuition.
Truda has served as a school Head and Governor in primary and secondary schools for over 20 years. She is also a member of the National Advisory Board for the Outward Bound Trust.
Rachel Landon – CEO
Rachel, having worked for a number of years at Highbury Grove School and more recently The City of London Academy Highbury Grove, brings to MiSST considerable senior leadership experience. Rachel was the founding chair of the Highbury Grove School Foundation and raised significant sums of money to enhance the educational experience of the students. She has a BA and PGCE from Loughborough University and is currently undertaking an MSC at CASS Business School.
Jonathan Hodgson – COO
Jonathan read Music at the University of Manchester and holds a performance diploma on piano from The Associated Board. Since graduating, Jonathan has enjoyed a varied career as a music director, teacher and freelance pianist, organist and accompanist. He has toured nationally and internationally with soloists, choral groups and pop opera group G4. He has significant music teaching experience to young people of all ages and abilities including those with special educational needs and disabilities.
Until 2019, he worked for Pro Corda, a national music charity, as Assistant Director and Artistic Director of Concerts where he oversaw fundraising, marketing and development and during this time he gained significant experience in operations and organisational strategy.
Stephanie Bissell – Director of Music: Curriculum – Teaching, Learning and Assessment
Stephanie has been a music teacher at the founding MiSST school since 2014. Stephanie plays the clarinet and piano and was educated at Chethams’ School of Music in Manchester. Following this Stephanie was awarded a scholarship to at the Royal College of Music where she studied with Tim Lines, Michael Collins and Richard Hosford. During her four years at the Royal College of Music Stephanie played in a number of masterclasses with world renowned clarinettists such as Maximiliano Martín; a variety of ensembles under the baton of prolific conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy; studied in for five months as part of the Erasmus programme and won the clarinet prize in her third year. Upon graduating Stephanie was elected student president for a year and worked closely with the Director of the College Colin Lawson and President of the College Professor Lord Robert Winston. After leaving the Royal College of Music Stephanie enrolled on the Teach First program and was placed in the founding MiSST school, Highbury Grove. Stephanie completed the Teach First masters in Educational Leadership with UCL and IOE and applied leadership theories studied to her previous role as Head of House at City of London Academy Highbury Grove. Stephanie is principal clarinet of the London City Orchestra.
Bob Pepper MBE – Director of MiSST: Excellence Programmes
Robert has worked as a professional musician and educator for over 40 years, holding posts as Conductor, County Music Adviser and Associate Headteacher. He is an Honorary Fellow of Goldsmiths University of London and was made MBE in 2006. As well as working for MISST he is also Musical Director of the English Schools’ Orchestra and the English Young Artists’ Sinfonia. In addition, he is employed as Conductor and Adviser to Enfield Music Service and delivers courses to teachers and students for Teach First and Orchestras for All. In 2008 Robert visited Venezuela to study the highly acclaimed El Sistema programme.
Marta Gonçalves – Deputy Director of Music
Originally from Portugal, Marta is an experienced flute tutor and performer. Marta started teaching the flute at Highbury Grove School in 2006, where she still currently teaches, and since then has developed her teaching skills in several other schools around London. She actively supported the development of the MiSST programme from the very start at Highbury Grove School and feels very passionate about making music learning as accessible and inspiring as possible. Marta was very fortunate to see two of her former students at Highbury Grove School, further their musical education at University level, one reading Music at Oxford University and the other studying flute at the Royal College of Music.
As a performer, Marta holds a BMus (Hons) and a MMus (Distinction) from the Royal College of Music, where she studied modern flute with Jaime Martin and then went on to receive specialized tuition on baroque and classical flutes with Rachel Brown. Since graduating, Marta performs regularly with all the major period instrument orchestras and ensembles such as, Academy of Ancient Music, Florilegium, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Touring Opera, London Handel Orchestra and Gabrieli Consort and Players. She has given masterclasses on baroque playing, participated in several broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and recorded under the label of Hyperion and Chandos, amongst others. Marta was also awarded the Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 2009.
Jonathan Gibson – Deputy Director of MiSST: Excellence Programmes
Jonathan is an alumnus of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (MMus, cello) and the University of Manchester (MusB) and has been working as a professional musician and as a music educator since graduating from the UoM in 2014. Jonathan has and continues to work as a peripatetic teacher, orchestral section tutor and ensemble coach/conductor with Enfield Music Service, Ashmole Academy, the English Schools Orchestra and now, since 2017, with MiSST.
As a performer, Jonathan has been principal cellist of orchestras such as the Arch Sinfonia, the Asyla Ensemble, Westminster Philharmonic Orchestra, Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra, the London Graduate Orchestra and Surrey Opera Company and a member of Constella OperaBallet, the Melos Sinfonia and the Orion Orchestra. Previously he has been principal cellist of the London Schools Symphony Orchestra and the University of Manchester Symphony Orchestra and has performed under Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Neville Marriner and Sir Colin Davis. Jonathan is also in demand for recording and session work and regularly performs with his string quartet, the Vine Quartet. With a keen interest in curating and programming, Jonathan was Project Co-ordinator of the Arch Sinfonia, a London-based young professional chamber orchestra conducted by Chloé van Soeterstède, from 2015-2018 and is the Orchestral Manager for the London Contemporary Music Festival this year (2018). As Director of the MiSST Saturday Music School, Jonathan is also grateful for the conducting tuition he has received from teachers such as Peter Ash, Mark Heron and Tim Redmond.
Chris Butler – MiSST Director of Research
Chris is a Doctoral Researcher in Politics at the University of Manchester and has a Masters in Research Methodology from Birkbeck, University of London where he was awarded a Special Commendation for Outstanding Performance in a Postgraduate Dissertation. Chris previously worked for a political party for 9 years including as a Campaign Manager for the 2012 London Mayoral election and has a particular interest in increasing standards in education and services for young people.
James Monaghan – MiSST Director of SEND
James has worked as a SEND teacher in inner-city secondary London schools for the last eighteen years. He learnt to play the viola alongside pupils using the MiSST teacher programme. James will continue to teach at City of London Academy Highbury Grove as he develops MiSST’s SEND music provision. He has visited the Resonaari Special Music Centre in Helsinki and met with Director Markku Kaikkonen in order to implement the Figurenotes system in Special Needs Schools.
Emma Cunliffe – MiSST Director of Northern England Development
Emma studied at Chetham’s School of Music and the University of Birmingham. She has a PGCE from Manchester Metropolitan University. Whilst still at university Emma decided her heart lay in music education and she started out as a secondary classroom music teacher, moving on to be Head of Department in a comprehensive school of 2000 students. From there she joined the BBC Philharmonic team and from then she has worked at The Bridgewater Hall, The University of Huddersfield, Chetham’s School of Music running learning and engagement programmes and as a consultant for a number of other organisations. Emma is seconded to MiSST from Chetham’s and very excited about working with them to develop the programme in the North of England.
Olivia Hemmings – MiSST Executive Administrator
Olivia studied BMus Vocal Studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Here, in addition to her study of the voice she worked in a number of music education institutions. She worked practically with children and young people with additional support needs and nursery age children, as well as completing a number of research projects on music and child development. She continues to perform and puts on regular concert with her peers from RCS whose aim is to showcase classical singing and opera to local communities across the country.
Cyan Koay- Head of MiSST Alumni Association
Cyan was a student at Highbury Grove School and learnt to play the flute through the school’s music programme – which later developed to become MiSST! She went on to study music at the University of Oxford and, inspired by her secondary school teachers, joined the Teach First Leadership Development Programme in 2015. During her first two years as a primary school teacher, Cyan taught at the New North Academy and collaborated with MiSST to establish and lead the music programme in Key Stage 2. She also spent a year teaching at a primary school in Madrid and came back to the UK in 2018, joining the MiSST team as the Executive Administrator. Cyan is currently at the Department for Education, working on the government strategy to improve teacher recruitment and retention in England. Still passionate about MiSST, she now volunteers to build the MiSST alumni community.
Daniel Sulis – MiSST Intern
Daniel was a student at the MiSST Saturday School for three years. He has performed as part of an orchestra at the London Palladium and Cadogan Hall with the Pico Players. Daniel has achieved Grade 5 on the flute and a B at Music A-Level. Daniel is now MiSST’s intern and his role includes working with MiSST teachers to organise resources and equipment in schools, as well as providing extra teaching support for pupils in class.
I started playing the flute when I was at Highbury Grove School at the age of 12. At the time I also took lessons on the cello but felt that my passion for music could personally be more expressive with the flute which led me to enjoy music-making more whilst studying at school. With the encouragement and determination that my teacher Marta Gonçalves gave me, I was able to push myself towards the ABRSM graded exams, and after 3 years, I managed to gain a distinction in my ABRSM Grade 8 exam. At this point I knew that I wanted to pursue towards music as a career in the future. With support and inspiration from my school and MiSST, I began applying to youth orchestras such as the London Schools’ Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain of which I both gained places in during 2015 and 2016. My experiences with these youth orchestras will never be forgotten as they were very beneficial to my development and progression as a young musician. In aspiring towards a career in music, I decided that I wanted to apply to conservatories for further education, which led to gain a place at the Royal College of Music. Now currently in my 3rd year at RCM, I realise that so much has changed in my performing and my overall musicianship through the experiences I have gained. I have taken part in several performances with the RCM Philharmonic Orchestra which included pieces such as Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.6 and Mozart’s Symphony No.35. I have also managed to take part in opportunities outside of RCM, which included a broadcasted performance on BBC Radio 3 of Errollyn Wallen’s ‘Mighty River’ with Orchestra X at the Hull City Hall, and most recently a performance of Brahms’ Requiem with the Brixton Chamber Orchestra. I hope to continue to experience different musical opportunities that will push me towards my goal of becoming a professional orchestral musician in the future
I started playing violin when I was 9 years old and joined the beginner string group at the Waltham Forest Music Service. It was only when I arrived at Frederick Bremer that I was able to get an individual lesson. I am now preparing to take my Grade 3 exam and am involved in the Waltham Forest Intermediate Strings group, school orchestra and advanced string ensemble. I was also lead violinist for one of the ensembles performing alongside Nicola Benedetti at the Barbican concert last year. I have been a part of the Music Specialist School since last year where I take part in the ensembles, choir and I have recently started to learn the flute. I love music, I like practicing and performing with friends. Playing music allows me to express myself, I get quite stressed and it allows me the opportunity to forget about everything.
When I started at Highbury Grove, I was given the opportunity to learn the violin in the Music Specialist School. I remember being inspired by the School’s Scholars Orchestra and was accepted into it after achieving a Grade 2 Distinction. I have recently completed my Grade 5 on the violin. Being exposed to other enthusiastic musicians propelled my desire to seek more musical extracurricular activities. Hence, I joined MiSST’s Saturday School programme in Year 10.
Music means that I can learn how to do specific skills that I can use in my daily life. For example; learning how to play with different people means that I learn how to communicate, which I can use in daily life. Music also means that I get to see a lot of different cultures that I have never seen before. In short, I get to learn more about the world.
I came to England from Moldova in September 2014. I never considered playing an instrument but now I have learnt two in the space of a year. I enjoy playing an instrument because I couldn’t speak English very well and music is a universal language and I was able to participate with everybody else.
Andrew Wolfson – Chairman and Trustee
Martin Bavinton – Trustee
Nicola Benedetti