Words – Carole Hayman
Carole Hayman is a Writer, Producer & Presenter.
She was born in Kent, which has featured in her trilogy of novels, “The Warfleet Chronicles“. Her early work was with The Bristol Old Vic, The Royal Court and Traverse Theatres, from which she went on to become a founder member and first woman director of the Joint Stock Theatre Company.
She was an Associate Director of The Royal Court Theatre, for which she directed many World Premieres. Carole writes for radio, television and film. On radio, she is well known as writer of the Radio 4 hit series “Ladies of Letters” with Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge, which has run for twelve series on radio and three series on ITV .
Most are available as books, audio books and DVDs. Her latest novel, Legacy, an intelligent, provocative #MeToo mystery, is available on Audible.
Carole has published and broadcast many short stories and pieces of cultural journalism, including features for the Independent, the Guardian, the Express, The Sunday Times, The Mail and a regular column for The Saturday Independent, “My Lofty Life”. ‘Lofty Life’ a short animated film based on the column, was made with an award from the UK Film Council. It has appeared in film festivals world wide and is currently available on Vimeo & YouTube.
Carole’s political satire novel, Hard Choices, was published in 2003 by Aurora Metro Press and immediately short-listed for The Silver Booker prize for Wit. It was re-published in 2015 by PenSup Publishing.
Carole was an Arts & Humanities Research Council Fellow @ Kings College London, where she made a study on Women & Serial Killers. Called ‘No One Escapes’ this became a highly acclaimed 4 Screen Video Installation. This, funded by Wellcome, was shown in the Brighton Festival @ Fabrica Gallery and all over the UK in high, medium and low secure units, Universities, NHS facilities, forensic and arts conferences and prisons. Carole has recently completed a factual book based on her experiences while making NOE.
The Hive is her first Opera, loosely based on the material. It was very well received at The Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Opera Festival Summer 2016 and at Tête à Téte’s Opera Festival Summer 2017. Carole has now embarked on her second – The Rotters Opera – a contemporary take based on scurrilous goings on in her home town of Deal during the late 19th century.
Carole has been a Trustee of several literary and cultural organisations in London and the Southeast. She runs regular literary workshops and salons and teaches creative writing at UAL – LCC, Leeds Becket and Northampton Universities.
Carole is a regular contributor to the BBC as a writer and presenter. For the BBC she has made many dramas and series and a number of documentaries, including ‘Inside the Unit’ broadcast in 2015.
She is currently making a series of podcasts about an inner city in the 80s, co-written with Sue Townsend and adapting one of her own crime novels for television.
Music – Harvey Brough
Harvey Brough is a composer and performer.
One of the UK’s most accomplished and diverse musicians, he is unique in his ability to work with the finest professional musicians and complete beginners (both children and adults), often side by side. Many of his compositions bring these forces together, with remarkable results. He has been promoting Community music for many years before it became a popular movement.
Harvey sang as a chorister at Coventry Cathedral before studying at the Royal Academy of Music and Clare College, Cambridge. Since then he has worked as a freelance performer, arranger, conductor, producer and composer. Harvey and the Wallbangers had great success in the 1980s throughout Europe, recording four albums and one called Jazz on EMI, with Simon Rattle.
His compositions have been performed at the Barbican, Royal Opera House, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall, Union Chapel, Kings Place, Turner Sims Southampton, Usher Hall Edinburgh and many other major venues.
For the last five years, Harvey has been composer in residence and patron of VOX HOLLOWAY, co directing their concerts with VH’s founder Justin Butcher. They present a regular series of innovative concerts, occasionally including staples of the choral repertoire, but mostly creating new and eclectic programmes.
In September 2012 Harvey was made the Turner Sims Professor of Music at the University of Southampton. He started a new university community choir USV and has performed with students and professionals in concerts and workshops at the university. This post has been made permanent and he is now also an Associate Professor teaching a module in Community Music.
Producer – Helene Mathiesen
Helene Mathiesen is a freelance opera and theatre producer
She has produced critically acclaimed productions with Gothic Opera, Maria De Rudenz (Battersea Arts Centre), Rip Van Winkle (Hoxton Hall), and Der Vampyr (Arcola Theatre). Other producing credits include Not Saint Hildegard (Bound by Theatre, Playground Theatre), It’s in the Air! (Hope Mill Theatre), The Language of Flowers and Folk Tales (Cockpit Theatre).
With a passion for new works and cross-genre collaborations, Helene is currently producing The Hive Opera in collaboration with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Tung Auditorium) and the verbatim opera project The Standard of Care, exploring the Healthcare workers in crisis.
Looking beyond the UK, Helene is collaborating with a Nairobi based opera company, with a vision for fostering international partnerships and cross-cultural exchange.
Committed to collaboration, outreach, and broadening access to opera, Helene is passionate about pushing the boundaries of what opera and classical music can be.