Michael Moody Chief Operations Officer
Oliver Baines
Malcolm Le May
Bindesh Shah
Phillip Williams
Mark Ashburton
Our Festival Friends ensure the success of each festival and are essential to sustaining the high quality of opera at The Grange.
For four decades, Michael Chance has performed in a bewildering variety of environs all over the world. Never content just to be labelled a pioneer of historically-informed performance of earlier repertory, he has also championed the work of many contemporary composers, and been fortunate enough to have had operatic roles, song cycles, cantatas and much else written for him.
His earliest operatic appearances were at Cambridge University, soon followed by 3 seasons with Kent Opera, which included Judith Weir’s first opera, A Night at the Chinese Opera. His operatic roles have tended towards gods, heroes and fairies, and has performed as such across the globe with many of the leading international companies and festivals, with regular visits to Glyndebourne, ENO, ROH, Netherlands Opera, Opera Australia, Bayerische Staatsoper, Maggio Musicale, São Carlos, Lisbon, amongst many.
In concert, he has sung Bach with the Berlin Philharmonic and Rattle, Handel with Gewandhaus Orchestra and Chailly, Purcell with Concentus Musicus and Harnoncourt, and Orff with London Symphony Orchestra and de Burgos, as well as regular work with John Eliot Gardiner, Ton Koopman, Frans Bruggen, and across the baroque board.
His regular recitals covered a wide range of collaborators including lute (Nigel North, Jacob Lindberg, David Millar amongst many), piano (Malcolm Martineau, Roger Vignoles, Julius Drake), harpsichord (Maggie Cole, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Gustav Leonhardt, Richard Egarr) and for over 30 years, Fretwork viol consort.
He is fortunate to have worked during the golden age of digital recording and has over 160 titles to his name. His many awards include Grammy and Diapason d’Or.
Michael Chance is Professor at Royal Conservatorium, Den Haag, and the Royal Academy of Music, London.
In 2015 he started The Grange Festival and continues to be its Artistic Director and CEO.
He was awarded CBE in 2009.
Rachel heads up The Grange Festival fundraising activities and has had a relationship with The Grange since 1997. She brings a broad range of fundraising experience from other organisations including The Industrial Society, The British School of Paris, HIOWAA, Compton Fundraising Consultancy and Temple Music.
Born in Paris with Welsh roots, she had a Foreign Office childhood overseas, returning to Paris for 9 years with her own family before finally settling in Hampshire.
Her love of opera was nurtured in her teenage years by an aunt and uncle who took her to Glyndebourne every year. In later years her husband Mark joined this tradition. All of Rachel’s children spent summers at The Grange waitering, pot washing and watching rehearsals.
Annabel manages the finances for The Grange Festival and has worked in the Charity/Arts sector for twenty years since leaving Zurich Insurance. She spent four years at Chichester Festival Theatre and her association with The Grange dates back to 2007 when she joined Grange Park Opera.
Annabel loves horses and rode to a good standard when she was younger. She indulges her passion now by having a share in a racehorse. She equally enjoys The Highlands of Scotland and Cornwall.
Annabel has a long involvement with opera. Her uncle John Olive and his wife Phyllis created Shawford Mill Theatre near Frome out of a neglected mill. They put on their first of many operas in 1957. In 1958 they invited a chemistry teacher to perform which he did until 1961. He was John Shirley-Quirk who became a world famous Bass-Baritone. When Annabel was old enough she sang in the chorus and in 2001 they had a singers reunion which John Shirley-Quirk came back from America for. He conducted in a choral piece which we all tried very hard to get right!
Favourite opera – Beethoven’s Fidelio
Scott Cooper studied singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), where he won major Academy prizes including the Jean Highgate Scholarship and the Margaret Dick Award. In 1981 he created the role of King Diarmid in the world premiere of Kenneth Leighton’s opera Columba at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow.
From 1987-1995 he was a member of Scottish Opera where he was involved in the recordings of Candide (TER and BBC TV), Street Scene and Regina (Decca). He was involved in a project for Pearl/Conifer Records to record the later operas of Sir Arthur Sullivan and can be heard in The Rose of Persia, The Chieftain and Ivanhoe.
In 1995 he left Scottish Opera to co-found the Glasgow-based event management company Pitch Perfect, before moving to London in 1998 when he joined Athole Still International Management as Artists Manager. For the next ten years he managed the careers of international opera singers, conductors and directors, as well as sitting on the board of the International Artist Managers’ Association.
In 2008 he became Artistic Administrator at Grange Park Opera, and since 2016 he has been Director of Artistic Administration at The Grange Festival.
He regularly sits on competition juries and audition panels, and is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
Originally from Shropshire, Kimberley moved to the Southeast in 2015 to study BA (Hons) Drama and Performance at The University of Portsmouth. It was here where she developed an interest in production work and the ‘behind the scenes’ logistics of theatre and events.
After graduating from Portsmouth, Kimberley went on to do an MA in Stage and Production Management at Guildford School of Acting. From here she went on to stage manage a variety of shows, such as fringe theatre, outdoor theatre, a regional pantomime and completing a placement on a west end production.
Kimberley joined The Grange Festival in January 2022.
Having spent her career with a passion for driving positive change in the charitable sector. Lucy’s experience lies in communication and fundraising, where she thrives in building networks and cultivating relationships, hoping to amplify the impact of various initiatives she has been involved with. She has actively contributed to charities and non-profit organisations, playing a crucial role in fostering collaboration. She has been lucky enough to specialise in cultural and heritage organisations. Having worked at London Zoo, Natural History Museum, professional bodies, The Hampshire Garden trust and established a startup digital agency her expertise and experience is wide ranging.
Lucy's Favourite opera after 2022 has to be Queen of Spades!
Growing up in a musical family, Alice’s love of the arts started at a very early age. Always encouraged by her Father she took part in every choir, concert and production throughout her school years.
Graduating from the University of Winchester in 2015 with a 2:1 in Drama Studies she knew she wanted to pursue a career working in the arts. Her first role was as a project coordinator for Home Slough. Part of the Arts Council’s Creative People and Places funding stream, this initiative aimed to increase consumption of the arts in areas where it was typically very low. She joined The Grange Festival in 2017 as an Office Assistant and has been doing the marketing since 2018.
A very creative individual, she spends her free time playing music, crafting and has recently completed a diploma in Silversmithing, passing with Distinction.
Cornelia has been with the Festival since 2019, on and off, and took over the role as Box Office Manager in August 2023. Having come from a musical family the role incorporates Cornelia’s events management training and love of the arts well. Her favourite opera since joining the Festival has to be Falstaff which had both fantastic singing and good humour! When not running the Box Office Cornelia and her fiancé enjoy showing their Cocker Spaniels and walking in the beautiful countryside where they live.
With a degree in Education and Music from Homerton College, Cambridge University, Susan began her career in arts management at the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra and the Academy of Ancient Music. She spent eighteen years at Garsington Opera as Director of Artistic Administration, involved in its growth from a small operation at Garsington Manor, including the move to its unique location at the Wormsley Estate. In 2016, she became Director of Performing Arts for a start-up, international school in Abu Dhabi delivering large-scale, award-winning outreach projects. Joining the Grange Festival in 2018, Susan has been responsible for the set up of the year round Learning programme offering innovative creative projects to schools and young people who have little or no access to the arts.
Maheen is a creative professional with a rich background as a senior project manager, celebrated for orchestrating strategic initiatives across a diverse range of business sectors. Her drive and roots are anchored in the performing arts, while instinctively she is drawn to facilitating education, and central to her interactions with others and involvement in various projects is her strong focus on sharing knowledge and insight; supporting others to grow and discover.
After studying Drama at the University of Southampton, she has worked as a freelance writer, director and producer across podcasts; plays, stand-up shows, poetry readings and TEDX talks, as well as in schools. Her passion lies in working with SEN children and leading WAW Creative Arts School, the world’s first Islamic Creative Arts School, where her work has been performed on-stage at The Globe; The Battersea Arts Centre and The Victoria and Albert Museum.
Maheen has a love for singing and is part of a South London choir. She has performed for Annie Lennox’s charity as well as supporting War Child and the ABBA Voyage experience.
Her favourite opera is Madam Butterfly.
Richard Mantle was born in London and began his career as a HR professional before moving to the arts sector where he has enjoyed a career in opera and music and has been a prominent figure in the arts world with a track record of leadership and management.
Richard retired from his role as General Director of Opera North in 2023, after a 30-year career in the company. During his tenure, Opera North became one of the most admired arts organisations in the UK. He was previously Managing Director at both Edmonton Opera in Canada and Scottish Opera and Deputy Managing Director at English National Opera. He was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to music and a Knighthood in 2023 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to opera.
He was appointed as a deputy lieutenant of West Yorkshire in 2012 and holds honorary doctorates from the Universities of Leeds and York.
Richard was asked to be Interim Chair of The Grange Festival in July 2023 and was appointed as permanent Chair three months later.
Caroline is Vice-Chair of The Grange Festival and is delighted to contribute to a festival celebrated for its artistic brilliance and its substantial educational and community outreach initiatives.
Parallel to her role at The Grange Festival, she is the Executive Director of Three Dimensional Impact Ltd, focusing on amplifying the effectiveness of charities, philanthropists, and funders through joint efforts. She champions the use of research and evidence-based interventions to create solutions that are both ground-breaking and enduring, aiming for a scalable impact.
Caroline is affiliated to the University of Birmingham's Third Sector Research Centre where her research investigates how philanthropists engage with evidence to inform their giving. She is an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, and an Emeritus Board Member of the Fund for Global Human Rights. Caroline serves on the Fundraising Board of the Liberal Democrats and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Rivers Forum.
Caroline’s favourite opera is Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.
After graduating from Cambridge in the History and Philosophy of Science, Nicholas Allan spent thirty years working in finance. For much of this time he was travelling, with long spells in each of Asia, London and the US, latterly as an Asian specialist. His main business interest now is in Indian hotels.
He has a deep love of music. Formerly Deputy Chair of the English National Opera, he is Chair of the National Opera Studio, Britain's leading operatic training organisation. He is also involved in a number of local charities around Devon, where he lives with his wife Sarah. They have four children and two grandchildren.
In his spare time he enjoys walking in the hills, singing and cryptic crosswords.
Favourite opera: Tannhauser.
Rosamund is a barrister by profession and a trustee of numerous educational and musical charities; she is currently on the Boards of Temple Music Foundation, Longborough Festival Opera and The Roger and Ingrid Pilkington Charitable Trust. She has an interest in governance and the local community in Hampshire.
Rosamund divides her time between Hampshire, London and Languedoc. She sits part-time as a Recorder in the City of London (Old Bailey) Nightingale Court and is a Bencher of Inner Temple.
Rosamund is a former trustee of National Music Day, Handel Hendrix House and The Toyota-Shi Trevelyan Trust, and a former Chair of International Students House in London.
Her favourite opera is – for now – Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, last year’s memorable production at The Grange Festival.
Douglas is the Founder and CEO of award-winning Ecosse Films, one of the UK’s leading film and television drama companies.
He has produced 16 films (10 have been awarded an Oscar) and 50 television dramas which have been acclaimed throughout the world.
He is a Trustee of the Petworth Music and Literary Festivals and a former Deputy Chairman of BAFTA’s Film Committee. He is a member of the Chelsea Arts Club and the Edinburgh New Club.
He is an Ambassador for the cancer care charity Maggie’s in recognition of his distinguished service. He has also produced their annual carol service for ten years. He has received The Silver Thistle Award in Scotland for his contribution to Scottish culture.
Douglas has been a loyal supporter of The Grange Festival for many years, and held the UK premiere of his film Brideshead Revisited in the auditorium.
Sophie Ashburton, joint patron of The Grange Festival with her husband Mark Ashburton, has had a diverse career spanning big business, non-profit, and government sectors.
Marrying Mark in 2016, she shifted her focus to co-managing their estate and founding a consultancy aiding family businesses in relationship and structural challenges. Her work emphasises coaching and team growth, alongside her passion for envisioning the estate as a prime retreat location. Actively involved in The Grange Festival's revival in 2017, Sophie's passion for opera and commitment to the estate's environmental, social, and commercial impact are central to her pursuits.
