Chairman Laurence Slater; Secretary Simon Pike;Treasurer Chris Hobson; Membership Secretary and Website Caroline Slater; Press and publicity Philip
Johnson;
Musical Director: Helena Brown
Assistant Musical Director: Janet
Oates
Patron: Catherine Bott
Helena
Brown won a scholarship to study music at Dartington
College of Arts, and subsequently studied at the Royal
College of Music, with Hubert Dawkes. After leaving college,
she worked for a few years for the Royal Ballet and, although
now mainly concerned with continuo playing, she continues
to be interested in the dance world, working from time
to time with English National Ballet and the European
Ballet, and playing for classes for both R.A,D, and Cechetti
syllabi.
Her other, very varied work, is with
the London Chamber Orchestra and with the other London-based
chamber orchestras, too, where she plays harpsichord,
piano and celesta. She played at Kew Palace, on the beautiful
Shudi harpsichord, for the Queen, on her eightieth birthday,
and continues to travel the world for both playing and
examining, in between the work in this country.
Helena has been Musical Director for
all the Isleworth Baroque productions so far, and is now
working in partnership with Janet Oates in the preparation
of the productions.
Janet
Oates (Assistant Musical Director). Having gained
a BA in English (Oxford) and a BSc in psychology (Hull),
then taught English and various other things for 5 years,
Janet realised that music is what she really wants to
do. D’oh! Having achieved a distinction in her MMus
(2003) at Royal Holloway, University of London under the
supervision of Simon Holt, Janet is now undertaking a
part-time PhD in composition there, with Phil Cashian.
She studies singing with Charmaine Ahmed, and has given
solo and duet recitals at RHUL, local venues, and in London.
After many leads in G&S, she was glad to sing ‘proper’
music when invited into Isleworth Baroque at its very
birth. She sang the lead in Bach’s Coffee Cantata,
then in Purcell’s Fairy Queen. She directed for
2 years (Venus and Adonis and King Arthur) then gladly
went back to singing, playing the eponymous shepherdess
in Mozart’s Bastien and Bastienne in 2007. Janet
dusts off the old flute occasionally and bashes the harpsichord
whenever given the chance.
Leslie Anne-Lewis is a free-lance conductor who has worked with ensembles that range from groups of nursery children to professional musicians, and has led performances at venues that include The Royal Albert Hall, Hampton Court Palace, Ham House, York Minster, and Canterbury and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedrals. She has also lectured on topics in Performance and Historical Studies for the Royal College of Music, Kingston University, Hong Kong University SPACE, Roehampton University and Royal Holloway University of London. Next month, Leslie will be submitting her PhD at Royal Holloway; her study involves examining the role of the modern conductor. Leslie has conducted with Isleworth Baroque for the last three years, performances which have included Acteon (Charpentier), A Secular Masque (Boyce) and The Beggar’s Opera (John Gay).
Simon Pike joined Isleworth Baroque Simon for its production of Calisto and directed the production Actéon in 2009. Simon combines a love of baroque opera with theatre lighting design and a career as an engineer. He has designed lighting and sets for many operas, plays and musicals, and has been production manager for Opera Inside Out and technical manager for the Plasa Theatre, Romsey. He has directed the European stage premiere of Oedipus Gunslinger by Ian Weir (a western in the style of a Greek tragedy) and Chinamen by Michael Frayn. He studies baroque dance with Philippa Waite.
Janet
Oates (Assistant Musical Director). Having gained
a BA in English (Oxford) and a BSc in psychology (Hull),
then taught English and various other things for 5 years,
Janet realised that music is what she really wants to
do. D’oh! Having achieved a distinction in her MMus
(2003) at Royal Holloway, University of London under the
supervision of Simon Holt, Janet is now undertaking a
part-time PhD in composition there, with Phil Cashian.
She studies singing with Charmaine Ahmed, and has given
solo and duet recitals at RHUL, local venues, and in London.
After many leads in G&S, she was glad to sing ‘proper’
music when invited into Isleworth Baroque at its very
birth. She sang the lead in Bach’s Coffee Cantata,
then in Purcell’s Fairy Queen. She directed for
2 years (Venus and Adonis and King Arthur) then gladly
went back to singing, playing the eponymous shepherdess
in Mozart’s Bastien and Bastienne in 2007. Janet
dusts off the old flute occasionally and bashes the harpsichord
whenever given the chance.
Leslie Anne-Lewis is a free-lance conductor who has worked with ensembles that range from groups of nursery children to professional musicians, and has led performances at venues that include The Royal Albert Hall, Hampton Court Palace, Ham House, York Minster, and Canterbury and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedrals. She has also lectured on topics in Performance and Historical Studies for the Royal College of Music, Kingston University, Hong Kong University SPACE, Roehampton University and Royal Holloway University of London. Next month, Leslie will be submitting her PhD at Royal Holloway; her study involves examining the role of the modern conductor. Leslie has conducted with Isleworth Baroque for the last three years, performances which have included Acteon (Charpentier), A Secular Masque (Boyce) and The Beggar’s Opera (John Gay).