The Festival Committee would like to extend a warm welcome to our 2009 Adjudicators

Dance:

Linda Young  FISTD                       

Linda started dancing at the age of 3 and completed 5 years of professional training at the Nesta Brooking School of Dance, London, graduating with the teaching certificate of the ISTD. She taught in London and overseas before founding her own School in North London in 1989. Linda enjoys teaching pupils who dance recreationally as well as those interested in pursuing a profession in dance, and has been pleased to see many of her ex-students progress to vocational training and careers in the theatre.

As a member of the Cecchetti Society, Linda worked on the sub-committee responsible for the creation of the Performance Awards in 1998. She was also the proud recipient of the Peter Pearson Scholarship. After further studies, Linda attained Fellowship status of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance in 2003.

Linda has recently moved to the West Country and works nationally as a freelance dance teacher. She became a Federation Adjudicator in 2007, is enjoying this new dimension to her career and the opportunity it gives her to share her love of dance.

 Speech and Drama:

Janet Tuckett LLAM. GODA. PGCA.

Janet trained at the Barbara Macrae Studio, Bristol and has taught Speech and Drama for over 40 years. She has been an adjudicating member of the British Federation of Festivals since 1976 working at Festivals all over the UK. In 2000 she had her first experience of international adjudicating at the Hong Kong Schools’ Festival. In 2004 she became an Associate of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators, so is now often involved in adjudicating One-Act and Full-Length Play Festivals. She is also an examiner and the Registrar for Vanguard Examinations, a board which examines the full range of Poetry, Prose, Drama and Spoken English.

As well as adjudicating Janet is the Speech & Drama secretary of the Bristol Festival of Music, Speech and Drama.

Her teaching is now mainly at Badminton School, Bristol, as well as in private practice. In past years she has run a Youth Theatre Group, “Blue Lodge Drama” which won awards at the Bristol and Avon One-Act Festivals. Experience of Festivals goes back over 50 years for Janet as she first competed in Bristol as a four-year old and even now she is a member of a Group Speaking team which performs at Festivals and gives Recitals.

Janet is looking forward to adjudicating at North Devon Performing Arts Festival and sharing in the excitement and creativity of the performers.

Instrumental:

Helen Deakin GRSM LRAM ARCM

Helen Deakin gained a first class degree from the Royal Academy of Music where she studied piano with Christopher Elton and clarinet with Georgina Dobrée, taking both instruments as joint first study. She undertook post-graduate performance studies on the clarinet and in conducting. Following her time at the Royal Academy, she spent a year studying postgraduate education at the University of Durham.

Helen lived in Rugby for 25 years and has recently moved back to her native South-West (she is originally from Truro). She now lives in Dartmouth, Devon. She is an Associated Board examiner, on the panel for both graded exams and diplomas. In this role, Helen has worked extensively throughout the UK and around the world, including Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and the USA. As well as examining, she has also presented seminars for the Associated Board and has been a mentor on the CT ABRSM instrumental teaching course since its inception.

Helen is a very experienced teacher and has run a flourishing private teaching practice for over 25 years, working with all ages and stages, children and adults, from beginners to diploma level. She also presents classes in practical musicianship and in instrumental teaching techniques, and directs a series of chamber music courses at The Flavel Arts Centre in Dartmouth, which have proved very popular. She is much in demand, giving presentations on all aspects of performing and teaching, and is very busy as an Adjudicator. Helen is on the adjudicator panel of the British and International Federation of Festivals, and regularly works for the National Festival of Music for Youth.

Helen leads a busy freelance life, with particular specialisms in playing and coaching chamber music. Until recently, she was principal clarinettist with the Beauchamp Sinfonietta and the clarinettist in the Brentano Trio. She also performs as a soloist and as an accompanist and with other chamber groups and orchestras.

 Vocal:

Robert Latham BA, Cert Ed

Robert is an honours graduate of the University of Wales. After taking a Certificate in Education at Bristol University he stayed in the South -West and quickly gained a fine reputation for his music teaching both in and out of the classroom.

Used to large-scale and high-profile performances, his school choirs were regularly invited by the BBC to feature in both TV and Radio programmes, while he was also much sought after as a conductor of adult choral, operatic, and instrumental groups in the city of Bristol.

On his return from a year as Choral Director in an American High School, where incidentally he gained experience of working with jazz bands, he further developed his skills as a composer and arranger for choral groups. Members of his personally coached choirs and string quartets, as well as his private singing pupils, have, over the years and to this day, won scholarships to various colleges of music.

After a distinguished school-teaching career, he became an examiner in all instruments and voice for Trinity College, London in the early 90’s, examining in New Zealand, Malaysia and France as well as all over the UK. By this time he was also regularly in demand as an adjudicator for Music Festivals of the British Federation.

Based at his home in Clevedon, Somerset, he is now best known perhaps for his work in the training of young singers, both privately, and in choral situations, and has become nationally recognised as an authority in ‘upper- voice’ choral technique.

Retiring in 2002 as founder Director of the Bristol Cathedral Girls’ Choir since its inception in 1993, he taught for three years Bristol Academy of Performing Arts which specialises in the training of students for the Musical Theatre. Here he lectured on ensemble technique, as well as preparing pupils for individual diploma examinations in Music Theatre.

His expertise and advice is sought widely in workshop situations with all kinds of singing groups from large male-voice choirs to small mixed ensembles, from large amateur opera companies to barber-shop quartets.  A member of the Association of Teachers of Singing and the Association of British Choral Directors, (for which organisation he has acted as Artistic Adviser), he retired in 2009 from the ‘Bristol Schools’ Chamber Choir’, a group which he directed since 1993. Over the years this choir won national awards for the outstanding quality and versatility of its singing skills.

Recent Publications include three sets of arrangements for upper voices in ‘Faber Music Choral Programme Series’, and by ‘Lindsay Music,’ three folk song arrangements, and original compositions also for upper voices.