AOTOS trustees

AOTOS is steered by a number of dedicated trustees who volunteer their time and expertise to our organisation alongside professional careers and busy lives. The trustees are supported by a small team of freelancers and volunteers.

Any member of AOTOS can volunteer as a trustee

Elections take place at the AGM, and vacancies are advertised in our newsletters. The trustees are all volunteers; they usually meet four times a year. Please get in touch with [email protected] if you’d like to get involved or find out more about a role.

Our current trustees are:

Jenna Brown

Chair | [email protected]

Jenna Brown is a classical mezzo-soprano working in concert and oratorio. She has been a teacher for 18 years and runs Bristol Voice Care. As a voice pedagogy and vocal health specialist she has written for publication and is a visiting lecturer for several universities. She is currently studying for a PhD in Voice Pedagogy at University College London, generously funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council.

Sarah Taylor

Secretary | [email protected]

Sarah began singing as a child and grew up through County and National Youth Choirs. She started singing teaching in 2011 and now teaches in Secondary Schools and at Nottingham University. Sarah has been an AOTOS trustee since 2019.

Joy Naylor

Trustee

Joy was a founder member of Opera North and has sung principal roles with companies such as Birmingham Music Theatre, Precinct Opera and City of Birmingham Touring Opera. On the concert platform she has been the soprano soloist with orchestras such as the English String Orchestra, Melachrino Strings and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Joy premiered works by composers such as John Joubert and Phil Wilby, including his oratorio ‘The Temptations of Christ ‘ which was. performed at Westminster Abbey. Following her recital at St.Martins in the Fields, she was invited by UNESCO to perform the World Premiere of a song cycle by Charles Camilleri in Malta.
Joy has always combined her teaching and performing careers and her students have included a winner of the BBC ChoirGirl of the Year Competition. She was a Vocal Tutor at the JRNCM for eighteen years and now teaches privately at her home as well as leading vocal Workshops and conducting a Community Choir.
Joy was the Teacher Development Director for AOTOS for four years and is thrilled to have recently been awarded with an Honorary Life Membership in recognition of her services to AOTOS.

Fiona Shelfer

Trustee

Fiona Shelfer has been teaching singing for over 30 years both in the south of England and now in schools in Edinburgh. She has a thriving private practice and works a lot with musical theatre and acting students. Previously she was singing all over world under the name of Fiona Cameron, winning international competitions singing with Glyndebourne, Kent Opera and Scottish Opera as well as various orchestras.

Tessa Smith-Whicker

Trustee

Tessa is an experienced jazz singer, band leader and singing teacher with over a decade of experience teaching popular music vocalists, alongside maintaining an active performing career.

She teaches in several Higher Education institutions across the North of England, including the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. Tessa has a BA in Jazz Studies, an MA in Vocal Pedagogy and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research areas focus on performance assessment for popular music singers, stylistic awareness in popular music styles, and decolonisation of popular music singing education and assessment.

Tessa is also passionate about helping singers to improve their practice – creating content on social media about how to make practice effective, efficient and enjoyable. She has a podcast, The Singer’s Guide (http://thesingersguide.podbean.com) and a membership – The Singer’s Practice Hub – dedicated to helping singers improve their singing through practical means, mindset shifts and bite-sized practice exercises.

Leandros Taliotis

Trustee

Leandros is an international operatic baritone and singing teacher. He has performed extensively in Europe and beyond in opera, oratorio and recital. Born and raised in London, Leandros studied Music as a choral scholar at Cambridge University before winning a scholarship to study singing at the Royal College of Music.

Leandros is also a dynamic and enthusiastic singing teacher with twenty-five years’ experience. He has a thriving private singing practice based in his home studio in London and currently holds positions at St. Benedict’s School, Ealing and Woodbridge School, Suffolk. Recently, he was engaged to adjudicate the final rounds of Mill Hill School’s singing competition; an enjoyable experience which he hopes to repeat elsewhere.

He also brings to AOTOS a wealth of experience as a governor and trustee in a range of fields, including education, where he has helped to shape the development and growth of organisations.

Julie Thompson

Trustee

Julie is a vocal coach, teacher, and Senior Lecturer at Leeds Conservatoire since 2016. Besides her academic role, she is a singer and collaborative songwriter, with experience performing in diverse bands across Europe.

AOTOS support team

Georgia Barrington

Operations Manager | [email protected]

Georgia is a freelance operations professional based in West Sussex. She loves working behind the scenes with the small teams that power charities, membership organisations and female-founded businesses.

Her approach is shaped by roles across publishing, the arts sector and creative small businesses, so she brings a fresh perspective, operational expertise and practical solutions to every organisation she works with.

Tatiana Kidder

Finance Officer | [email protected]

Tatiana has spent more than a decade working with mission-led organisations, strengthening finance, governance and operational systems enabling focus on the work that matters most.

Tatiana’s experience spans the arts, community organisations and global health, giving her a wide and adaptable perspective on how charities grow, collaborate and navigate change.

Sophie Cullen

Communications Officer | [email protected]

Originally from New Zealand, Sophie’s love of music began with her very first singing teacher – her aunt, a nun who inspired a lifelong appreciation for singing and performance. While her days on stage may be behind her, she still enjoys a karaoke session, a skill honed during the years she spent living in South Korea and frequenting its famous norae bangs (singing rooms).

Sophie worked for many years as a design and lifestyle journalist while based in Hong Kong before relocating to London, where she transitioned into the charity sector, having worked with Age UK and Crohn’s & Colitis UK. She is delighted to be working with the AOTOS community.

Chloe Rhys

Team Assistant | [email protected]

Chloe is a freelance generalist based near Brighton who brings years of experience across charities, social impact organisations and fast-growing startups. She is particularly interested in improving systems and processes, and in supporting teams to thrive. She’s excited to support the AOTOS team and wider community.

Chloe’s singing capabilities sadly don’t extend past a shower singalong (!) but she’s a lifelong fan of the creative arts and the healing power of music.