We are a small team of dedicated staff who work with volunteers and our trustees to deliver our year-round programme of concerts and innovative learning and participation activity, presenting high quality music in a variety of settings to people of all ages and levels of ability.
Jo has been working in the arts for over 20 years. Before joining Music in the Round in 2018, she was Executive Director of Candoco Dance Company and Protein Dance. Jo has also worked at the London Mozart Players and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Native to Yorkshire and a music graduate of Edinburgh University, Jo completed a post-graduate diploma at the Royal College of Music and can still be seen playing her horn in various ensembles across the UK, as well as cornet in Crookes Brass Band. She is Chair of Classical Sheffield, a trustee of Orchestras Live and South Yorkshire Music Hub and sits on the Sheffield Cathedral Music Board.
Edward has led the community engagement work of the Royal Opera House and run a touring live and digital festival of orchestral music by the Philharmonia Orchestra. He has worked in community arts and education settings including for a creative writing mentoring organisation and produced music, arts education projects and festivals as well as touring dance, music and theatrical work across the UK. He has been a trustee of The Poetry Society, a homelessness relief charity and a youthwork development programme and currently sits on the board of Create Sheffield. He joined Music in the Round in 2021.
Alongside his work with Music in the Round, Benjamin is a composer and academic. He is currently Visiting Lecturer at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Composition projects have involved working with Zubin Kanga, the Ligeti Quartet, Liam Byrne and Juice Vocal Ensemble, among others, with commissions from Tate Britain, The National Gallery (London) and Historic Royal Palaces. Before joining Music in the Round, Benjamin was Artistic Director of Classical Remix, a small arts charity reimagining classical music for new audiences.
Outside of Music in the Round, Ellen is a composer who writes predominantly for small chamber groups and soloists. She recently completed her PhD at the Royal Northern College of Music, creating a portfolio of compositions through long-term collaboration with performers. Ellen has a passion for community music-making and directs the all-abilities ensemble CoMA Manchester (Contemporary Music for All), where she also plays her flute. She joined Music in the Round in 2021 and now freelances with the organisation.
Jane has been Music in the Round’s Finance Manager since 2015. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the arts working for touring companies and venues, including seven years as General Manager of Vincent Dance Theatre and freelance roles since 2010 for Yorkshire-based companies including Gary Clarke Company and Balbir Singh Dance Company. She is also Finance Manager for Sheffield’s Site Gallery.
Jenny has been Music in the Round’s Marketing Manager since 2014. A proud Sheffielder, Jenny is passionate about growing audiences for arts and culture. She began her career in arts marketing over 20 years ago as Marketing Assistant for Sheffield Theatres and has subsequently worked in the Marketing and Communications teams at Imperial War Museum North, Sheffield Museums and Manchester City Galleries.
After graduating from the University of Sheffield, Lucy worked in the arts and charity sectors before joining Music in the Round in spring 2024. Outside of Music in the Round, she freelances for theatre company Black Bright Ltd as their graphic designer, and spends the majority of her free time acting, directing and stage managing as part of the Dilys Guite Players. She also enjoys singing as part of Sheffield-based choir Neighbourhood Voices Lite.
Isabel joined Music in the Round in January 2025. Sheffield-born, she moved back to the city last year to pursue her creative endeavours. An avid singer and playwright, she hopes that this will be the beginning of a long career within the Sheffield arts scene. She also sings with Sheffield-based choir, Abbeydale Singers.
Sami has been National Programme Manager since September 2025. He has worked with cultural organisations all over the UK and Europe working with Opera, Theatre, Ceramic Art, Dance companies and much more. He has a Masters from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama training with National Dance Company Wales, Cardiff Dance Festival & The Millenium Centre. Sami continues his work in theatre & fine art curation working as a producer, designer & consultant on multiple projects across the UK.
Lew is a filmmaker, sound designer and composer with over a decade of experience across the arts. Before joining Music in the Round in October 2025, he was Creative Director for independent production company Brother Bear Films Ltd, working with the BBC, the Department for Education and the UK Home Office among others. Interested in Sound as an artform, he has scored a range of independent films, lectured for the BFI and produced audio installations. As a Sheffield graduate and resident, Lew is passionate about the Sheffield art and DIY music communities and continues to be an active collaborator.
Jenny Dibden Stevens CB (Chair) is an experienced civil servant currently working as Director of Remediation Programme Funds and Interventions, Buildings, Fire and Resilience Group, at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. She is also Head of the Government Social Research Service. Jenny regularly volunteers at Music in the Round events, and enjoys horse-riding and playing her cornet in a local brass band.
Jan Bonar CPFA (Vice Chair) is Head of Finance at Sinfonia Smith Square, and played a key strategic role in the merger of the orchestra Southbank Sinfonia and the concert hall St John’s Smith Square to create this new organisation, having been Finance Director of Southbank Sinfonia for several years. Chair of our Finance & Fundraising Committee, she also works as a charity finance consultant, and enjoys singing when work and family allow the time.
Ann Charlett-Day is a Senior Administrator at Sheffield Hallam University. She brings experience of working in the commercial, not-for-profit and higher education sectors and committee roles in the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (ARMA). She is a regular volunteer at Music in the Round events, and is a keen amateur musician, singing in one of Sheffield’s award-winning local choirs.
Sophie Haynes is the Artistic Projects Manager of the London Mozart Players. Prior to this she was the Events and Marketing Manager at Nonclassical. Sophie also regularly freelances as an orchestral manager and producer for ensembles including 12 Ensemble, and for large scale events such as the BBC Proms, Village Underground and the Science Museum. As a cellist, she performs on both modern and historical instruments as a soloist and with ensembles across the country.
Cara McAleese is an experienced producer and project manager specialising in arts & health and community arts work. She currently works as Arts and Health Programme Manager with Doncaster Community Arts and as a freelance Creative Producer with Maya Productions/South Yorkshire Housing Association. Previously she has worked at The Albany in Deptford, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Opera House.
Martin McKervey was a Partner with international law firm Nabarro LLP, and is currently a Non-Executive Director of AESSEAL plc. He is Chair of the Castlegate Partnership, a trustee of Whirlow Hall Farm Trust and St Luke’s Hospice, among other charities, and served as High Sheriff of South Yorkshire in 2021/22. He has previously been Chair of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership and Sheffield Property Association and was a Non-executive Director of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce.
Dr Sarah Price is a lecturer in Music Industries at the University of Liverpool. Sarah’s research interests include audience behaviour, concert and listening experiences, classical music management, audience development, and the role of arts and culture in place-making. She specialises in understanding audiences for arts and cultural events – especially classical music – and working closely with arts organisations to help them connect with more people. Her previous studies and PhD included research of Music in the Round’s audiences.
Jack Rush has been Development Director at ORA Singers since 2022, working closely with an array of composers on their ‘100 Commissions’ catalogue and managing the group’s schedule of performances and recordings. He also has a long history with sister charities, Pimlico Opera (which works in prisons and primary schools) and Grange Park Opera, playing a key role in the development of their 700-seat opera house, built in Surrey over 11 months in 2016/17.
Seán Ryan is creative co-director at archipelago arts collective, making new, bold and generous work in the north of England in collaboration with communities and artists working across creative disciplines. His practice centres on thematically engaged collaboration that focuses on reactivity and creativity, with significant experience working in transdisciplinary environments across creative forms including music, theatre and film. He also lectures in music production, songwriting and musical direction at Leeds Conservatoire.
Lucy Schaufer is a GRAMMY Award-winning mezzo-soprano who has been described by Gramophone Magazine as occupying “an undefinable space in the ‘who’s who’ of classical music”. She has performed with the Royal Ballet & Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia, regularly teaches symposiums at conservatories around the world, and continues to be a member of the Artistic Strategy Committee for NMC Recordings as well as Artistic Director of Wild Plum Arts.
Daniel Sogbesan is the former Head of Trading for the Hut Group (THG) and has built a career on building up brands so that they are better placed to connect with consumers. He is a huge fan of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and is co-founder of Kings Court MMA, a Media outlet that covers the sport globally, and assists fighters at Grassroots level to secure financial support for their fight camps.
Mark Sutherland (Vice Chair) is an experienced Government Project Delivery Professional, having worked for the Department for Work and Pensions for nearly 20 years, and is currently a civil servant in the Cabinet Office. He has a passion for classical music and opera, is a trustee for Buxton International Festival, and has previously been Vice Chair of Classical Sheffield.
Photographs on this site taken by:
Kaupo Kikkas, Chris Saunders, Matthew Johnson, Andy Brown, Nick Eagle, Arno, Adam Lyons, Andrej Grillc, Sarah Wijzenbrek, Benjamin Ealovega, Satoshi Aoyagi, Neil Coverley, Jean Baptiste Millot, Theo Williams.