As a opera singer, coach and educationalist, I aim to bring a sense of openness, curiosity and creativity to all areas of my practice.
Organisation/Company
Name: Royal Ballet and Opera
My Role: Workshop Facilitator
Create and Sing is a National Schools Programme aiming to Inspire creativity through music and drama with FREE award-winning teacher CPD, curriculum-based resources and live lessons for primary students. Create & Sing has worked with up to 87,000 students and nearly 3,000 teachers since 2016.
Organisation/Company
Name: Your Resourceful Coach
My Role: Coach
I bring a sense of openness, curiosity and creativity to all areas of my practice including my coaching. As a coach these values form the foundation of my work, where I am interested in enabling people to find new connections and insights and to generate ideas, action and change.
I have been coaching and mentoring one to one and in groups since 2023. Alongside an independent practice, my group coaching work has lead me to working in Europe. I hold a Advanced Level Practitioner and Executive Coaching and Mentoring qualification from the Ignite and am accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) at practitioner level.
I have recently worked in partnership with several arts organisations. These include Royal Ballet and Opera, Royal Academy of Music, Dutch National Opera & Ballet and St Martin in the Fields.
Iwi affiliation
I was born in Gravesend in the UK into a non-musical family and as far as I know, I descend from a line of British family.
Rohe
I grew up in a place called Dartford, only really known for a tunnel and a bridge linking Kent and Essex. I then went to study in Somerset in a beautiful city called Bath, where I stayed for 5 years, before moving to Bristol for 1 year. I then when to study in London for 3 years before moving back to Kent with my family following the pandemic. I am now in Sumner, Christchurch with my wonderful financé Millee and as I write this, our baby that is due the end February 2025. Millee was born in Foxton, and I am here on a two year work/ holiday visa.
How I got where I am today
My family are non-musical, but music was a part of growing up. Listening to Luther Vandross in the car and Michael Bolton, I found a way of connecting with my family when listening to the radio. Our voices would come together! I began having voice lessons at the age of 12 and despite being one of 3 boys that sung in my school, with guidance and encouragement continued to sing until my late teens. I then studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, completed my BA in Music in Bath before doing my Masters in Voice at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Sensing an absence of connection to people with my singing, I explored and discovered other ways I could use my music and voice to connect with communities. This is when I began my development of being a music leader and facilitator through a Fellowship at RAM and Spitalfields Music. Ever since I have continued to sing and engage with communities through various companies in the UK including the Royal Opera House, English Touring Opera, English National Opera and Glyndebourne.
Whānau
I have a wonderful family who has stood behind me and my choices, and I am forever grateful to them for their trust and love. I also have a fiancé who continuous to be beside me as we navigate the biggest change of all, parenthood and moving to the other side of the world. I have mentors and coaches I work with to bring new perspectives and also challenge me.
What grounds me?
Food is what brings me nourishment, I enjoy cooking, creating and sharing through food and have enjoyed my visits to the local markets here in Christchurch. I have relaunched my love of baking and began creating sourdoughs and kombucha. From a creative perspective, the nourishment I get is through connecting with different communities from various walks of life. Providing them a platform to express themselves authentically through art and performance. I love connecting with my voice and feeling the power and colours I can create with my voice and sharing my story through music and voice.
