Ann M Green CBE is an experienced board chair and non-executive director/trustee having worked with a number of charitable organisations for over twenty years. She believes strongly in the availability of music and performance arts to all, from education at a very early age throughout our lives. Everyone should have the opportunity to participate and enjoy all cultural offerings.
In support of this, Ann chaired the Royal Armouries Museum for ten years, York St John University for nine years and Hadrian’s Wall Heritage for nine years. She has also served as a non-executive director on the board of the DCMS. Ann is currently chair of York Theatre Royal and the York Guildhall Orchestra. Her career has seen her work on strategic planning, business plans and budgets, marketing, recruitment and fundraising.
Charlie Croft has worked for City of York Council as an Assistant Director since 1996 covering a wide range of functions notably arts and culture, libraries, museums, early years, adult learning, community engagement and equalities. Previously responsible for the management of the music service when it was a Council service he is committed to ensuring that the Music Hub goes from strength to strength as a strong and dynamic partnership body in its new guise as charitable incorporated organisation. He is involved in music in York through participation in choirs and playing the clarinet and through his children’s extensive use of the many musical opportunities that York provides.
Rachael Clarke studied music at The University of Nottingham, holding the Walton Scholarship for Performance. She worked as head of music at the Joseph Rowntree School in York, before being promoted to head of the Performing Arts Faculty and then Assistant Headteacher, responsible for Key Stage 3 and Transition. During this time she has overseen numerous successful musical projects and musical theatre productions for young people. At the 2018 UK Music Teacher Awards for Excellence, she was a finalist for the ‘Musicians Union Inspiration Award’, the citation reading ‘an outstanding music teacher who inspires countless students. Without Mrs Clarke, I wouldn’t be studying music today’.
She is passionate about ensuring all young people in York have fair access to music provision within schools and in other projects across the city and brings a wealth of experience at Senior Leadership level to the board.
Glyn Jones is a Vice Principal at York College, where he has worked for 25 years in many different roles, starting as a Biology teacher. His work involves leadership of arts education, and he has been involved with the city’s Cultural Education Partnership (now REACH) and other wider arts education partnerships – such as the Saturday Art Clubs – for several years. Before teaching, he worked as an environmental scientist, photographer and skydiver (not all at the same time). His children have been participating in York Music Hub activities for most of their lives and as well as listening to them play, he enjoys playing guitars and mandolin in varied company, including a ceilidh band.
Helen Julia Minors is Professor and Head of School of the Arts at York St John University, United Kingdom. She is also a Visiting Professor of artistic research at Lulea Technical University, Sweden. She was founder and original co-chair of EDI Music Studies Network, and former chair and vice chair of MusicHE. She plays trumpet for St Olaves Academy Orchestra in York and the Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra, and she a broadcaster and presenter for Radio Wey. Her publications include Routledge Companion to Women’s Musical Leadership, co-edited with Laura Hamer (Routledge, 2024); Teaching Music Performance in Higher Education, co-edited with Stefan Ostersjo and others (OpenBook Publishing, 2024); Music, Dance and Translation (Bloomsbury, 2023); Artistic Research in Performance through Collaboration, co-edited with Martin Blain (Palgrave, 2020); Paul Dukas: Legacies of a French Musician, co-edited with Laura Watson (Routledge, 2019); Building Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Bridges: Where Theory Meets Research and Practice, co-edited with Pamela Burnard et al. (BIBACC, 2017); and Music, Text and Translation (Bloomsbury, 2013). Recent articles and chapters have also appeared in the London Review of Education (2017/2019), Translation and Multimodality (Routledge, 2019), Opera and Translation (John Benjamins, 2020), Tibon (2022), Intersemiotic Perspectives on Emotions (2023), and Routledge Companion to Applied Musicology (2023).
The Board appoints officers with front line responsibility for delivering the work of the Hub:
Alongside her work at York Music Hub, Faye is a recent MA Music (Vocal Studies) graduate from the University of York. Originally from Corbridge, Northumberland, she developed a deep passion for choral music while singing with the St Andrew’s Church Choir, Hexham Abbey Girls’ Choir, and youth choirs at Sage Gateshead (now The Glasshouse International Centre for Music). These experiences provided her with the opportunity to tour with choirs to Hannover, Berlin, and Tallinn, as well as perform at prestigious UK venues such as Birmingham Symphony Hall, The Royal Festival Hall, King’s College Cambridge, and The Royal Albert Hall (Proms, 2015).
In York, Faye sings with the touring choir Caelestis and holds choral scholarships with The Chapter House Choir of York Minster (2018–present) and Leeds Cathedral (2021–present). Alongside York Music Hub and her musical pursuits, she also teaches Singing at Fulneck School and works as a Digital Marketing and Social Media assistant for the University of York.
Alongside his new position at York Music Hub, Jonty Ward is a bass-baritone, Director of Music, and organist based in Yorkshire. As part of his varied career, Jonty currently sings as Vicar Choral at York Minster having begun his tenure as a scholar in 2018. Jonty is an alumnus of the Genesis Sixteen 2019/20 programme and in 2022 completed two busy years with Ex Cathedra as their bass graduate scholar. Jonty graduated with a First-Class Honours degree in music and subsequently completed his postgraduate studies in Management at the University of York. Jonty is director of music at St Lawrence Parish Church, York and manages the White Rose Consort, a professional vocal consort based in York.
Joanne Yau is Partnerships Manager at York Music Hub, nurturing strong connections and collaborative work with a wide network of schools and organisations in the City of York and beyond. Joanne is a Music teacher with more than 20 years’ experience teaching in Primary and Secondary schools, and was Deputy Head Teacher of an All-Through school (3-18) in East London, in charge of Curriculum. Alongside her teaching career she has continued to tutor Oboe students and Piano students to a high standard while performing semi-professionally for film scores and Musical Theatre.
Throughout her career she has created successful Music Network Groups in various boroughs in London and delivered Professional Development for Music Teachers, including both Instrumental and Classroom teachers. She has kept abreast of developments in teaching and Music Education, delivering CPD to teachers and Music Educators on preparing for Ofsted.
Joanne is passionate about Music Education and accessibility to all, she aims to reach every young person through the variety of Music and cultural opportunities within York and this drive underpins all aspects of her work.
One of the most influential brass players of our time, now a soloist, conductor and pedagogue, Ian Bousfield has been at the top of his profession for over 35 years, having formerly been principal trombone of the Vienna Philharmonic and London Symphony in an orchestral career that spanned thirty years. As a soloist he has appeared with, amongst others, Riccardo Muti, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Neville Marriner and Kent Nagano with the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony, London Philharmonic and the BBC Philharmonic. He has recorded for EMI, Chandos and Camerata. Future plans include appearing with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony, recording with the Airies Quartet, conducting the season-opening brass concert of the New World Symphony in Miami for the third time and directing the Aalborg Symphony in a series of concerts for brass and voice.
In recent times his conducting career has taken off, seeing Ian regarded as one of the world’s foremost brass conductors. He has conducted the Oslo Philharmonic, Liceu Opera, Danish Radio Symphony, Copenhagen Opera, Sonderborg Symphony, Bern Symphony, Norlands Opera and the New World Symphony.
Ian is professor of trombone at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern and the Royal Academy of Music in London. His former students sit in some of the world’s premier orchestras and have won the most prestigious competitions including the ARD and Royal Overseas League. His book and videos, “Unlocking the Trombone Code” have met with great critical acclaim. He is a brass coach for the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and a regular coach of the New World Symphony, two things that lie very close to his heart. He was awarded the ITA award in 2012, a lifetime honor from the International Trombone Association.
In June 2019 Ian was Chair of the first ever Tchaikovsky Competition for Brass at the invitation of Valery Gergiev.
Despite living outside of the UK for 20 years, Ian remains obsessed with cricket. His main hobby is the wines of Burgundy, and in 2017 he was honoured by the region, being made a ‘Chevalier de Tastevin’.
“Music is at the heart of our society, at the heart of all enlightened, developed society. It changes our mood, our day and in some instances, our life.
Music is the theme tune to our life. Learning an instrument teaches us to think independently, for ourselves, and in these days of ever encroaching AI it equips Young people with the tools they need to succeed.
The collaborative elements train the team player of tomorrow, be that in music or in whatever career they choose to pursue As a youngster growing up in York I was privileged to receive a musical education second to none and I believe passionately in today’s youngsters having access to an even better education. I support the work of the York Music Hub and hope you will too.”