2025 was a year that I was a little afraid of. I remember in December 2024 plotting out the months from January-July with highlighters and lots of post-its, thinking how will I do all of this! But isn’t the mind amazing? I did it and it was brilliant! And I learned loads and made lots of new friends along the way. A little summary, this is what I did:

Buxton International Festival

Since late 2022 I’ve been dipping my toes into the wonderful world of opera and all things classical music. BIF produce midscale and studio operas in Buxton for a July festival extravaganza. The scale of what BIF do is astounding, and if you haven’t been I encourage you to join in. Nominated for International Opera Award 2024. Nominated for UK Theatre Award 2024. From 2024-July 2025 I produced this programme…

Shorts: Four innovative new operas by award-winning artists

Part sector development, part talent development project, part audience development strategy – Shorts was a pilot project aiming to inject new life into the opera sector by commissioning artists used to making works in a range of artforms. We commissioned brilliant artists: Martin Green, Zodwa Nyoni and hothouse jazzer Thandanani Gumede, Jasper Dommet and Jessica Walker plus my old pal from Hull Josh Overton with Carmel Smickersgill. Directors Marcus Desando and Rebecca Meltzer; Musical Directors Paul McKenzie and Berrak Dyer; Designer Elliot Squire and Lighting/Video Design by Alex Musgrave. Orchestra provided by Northern Ballet Productions. What an incredible project this was. We proved that ‘new audiences’ do exist for opera and when we open the doors, people want to go!

Manchester Jazz Festival

The work continues with the brilliant mjf, as we continue our mission to support new jazz work, from the north and change the scope of who’s making it. Soundcheck is an annual programme inviting musicians who haven’t necessarily improvised before, to try it out. It’s always an emotional rollercoaster for everyone involved, including me! We completed our final round of the programme with ten musicians creating new sounds, a jam at The Met in Bury and production of ten new pieces of music.

P E A C E

2025 also saw me producing an ambitious new jazz commission P E A C E, spearheaded by hothouse alumni Verity Watts. PRS Foundation’s New Music Biennial is a critically acclaimed free festival presenting 20 pieces of new music across two festival weekends. P E A C E world-premiered at Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture (June 2025) and London’s Southbank Centre (July 2025); the music was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and available for download from NMC Recordings.

Does music about peace have to be peaceful? In the gloriously diverse city of Bradford, where the first Peace Studies department was inaugurated and the Peace Museum now lives, P E A C E found musical commonality in the cracks and created something beautiful by joining together contrasts. Drawing on her creative catalogue, producer Verity Watts presented a radical and ambitious commission that brought together four artists to create a work featuring electronic sounds, rap, scratching, spoken word and bassline improvisation. It was fused with historic archive audio samples. Collaborators included the world-champion turntablist DJ Woody; legendary jazz bassist Dave Kane; Bradford-born singer, rapper and songwriter Kenzo Jae and poet and spoken word artist Scout Tzofiya Bolton. Archive producer Anna Rhodes curated audio samples from Bradford that also feature in the music. Lighting Designs by Rachel E Cleary.

Oldham Coliseum Theatre

I began 2025 as Senior Producer Artist Development and ended it as Head of Creative Engagement! I couldn’t be happier to be back in action supporting theatre makers HIPI-style in Oldham. Making new connections with artists in the wonderful and inspiring borough, developing connections and commissioning new work once again to develop place-based artistic networks. Watch this space for Oldham artists to launch further and make theatre tidal waves. Our energies go into growing the creative sector through investment and practical support. This year we introduced two new artist development programmes (Crafted and MashUp); we launched a new ‘cultural campus’ strategy with a kick of event in conversation with Designer Wayne Hemmingway; we delivered a pop-up studio programme in spaces throughout Oldham. Hosted guest speakers at our fun gathering Culture and Chips; and we made lots of new friends. Went to Edinburgh to see new work. Find out more about Oldham here. Change is happening in Oldham and its going to be even more BRILLIANT.