Managing Director of Nevill Holt Opera
Annie is Managing Director at Nevill Holt Opera, the country house opera festival which takes place in an award-winning theatre on the Nevill Holt Estate in Leicestershire. She has previously been Director of Communications and Marketing at the Creative Industries Federation, Head of Communications at English National Opera and began her career as part of the marketing team at Warner Bros. Records, working on campaigns ranging from Muse to Michael Buble. She is a trustee of the Buxton International Festival and of SWAP’ra, the organisation supporting women and parents in opera. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music and at Cambridge University, where she was organ scholar at Gonville and Caius College, and has since completed an MBA with the Open University. As an organist, Annie has performed internationally and on BBC Radio 3, and is currently Director of Music at St Anne’s Church in Soho.
Industry Champions
Amir Hussain
Chief Executive at Yeme Architects
Ben Evans
Director at London Design Festival
Inua Ellams
Poet, Playwright, Performer, Graphic Artist and Designer
Loyd Grossman
Chairman of The Royal Parks
Michaela Greene
Development and Communications Director at Roundhouse
Syima Aslam
Director at Bradford Literature Festival
Sarah Ellis
Director of Digital Development at Royal Shakespeare Company
Tom Chalmers
Founder and Managing Director at Legend Times Group
Tony Heaton
Freelance Sculptor and Performance Artist
Alia Alzougbi
Artist, Educator and Cultural Producer
Sade Banks
Founder and CEO of Sour Lemons
Natalie Griffith
Brand & Marketing Director of Unit 2 Games
Mandy Barker
Founder of Sail Creative
Lucy Bayliss
Head of Creative Programmes at DanceEast
Charlotte Beevor
Entrepreneurial Designer and Stylist
Kevin Beimers
Director of Italic Pig
Stephen Bennett
Joint Head of Policy Lab and Visual artist
Sarah Bird
Director of Wild Rumpus
Wolfgang Buttress
Artist
Ben Carlin
Co-Founder of Megaverse and Immerse Sheffield
Phil Critchlow
Founder and CEO of TBI Media
Stephanie Edwards
Co-Founder of Urban Symbiotics
Tom Adeyoola
Entrepreneur
Jennifer Johnston
Head of Learning at Into Film
Reiko Kaneko
Ceramicist, Designer and Educator
Kurban Kassam
Freelance Film Producer
Noel Kelly
Chief Executive Officer and Director at Visual Artists Ireland
Anra Kennedy
Content and Partnerships Director at Culture24
Nick Keynes
Director at Tileyard Studios
Vikas Kumar
Founder and Director of GemArts
Hope Dickson Leach
Writer and Director
Anna Lowe
Co-founder and Director of Partnerships at Smartify
Amanda Maxwell
Community Manager and board member of shesaid.so
Vaughn McKenzie
CEO of JAAK
Fiona McLaughlin
Co-founding Director at Taunt Studios
Conor Mitchell
Founder and Artistic Director of The Belfast Ensemble
Jo Morrison
Director of Digital Innovation at Calvium
Helen Mort
Author
Liz Mosley
Self-employed Graphic Designer
Dave Moutrey
Director and CEO at HOME
Kobi Onyame
Recording artist, Producer and Songwriter
Rachel O’Riordan
Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
Laura Pye
Director at National Museums Liverpool
Lara Ratnaraja
Cultural Consultant
Indhu Rubasingham
Artistic Director at Kiln Theatre
Will Saunders
Consultant and Executive Producer
Michelle Adia Scarlett
Community Immersive Producer
Nasima Siddiqui
Co-Founder at WyndyMilla
Jaswinder Singh
Director of Asian Arts Agency
Amy Smith
Head of Talent at Framestore
Nick Starr
Co-Founder at Bridge Theatre
Tolu Stedford
Development Producer at the Independent Film Trust and CEO of Creative Lions Productions
Phil Stuart
Founder and Creative Director of PRELOADED
Maria Tanjala
Co-founder of Big Couch and FilmChain
Nia Thomas
Managing Director at Boom Cymru
Yehrin Tong
Illustrator
Polly Tootal
Freelance Photographer
Zing Tsjeng
Freelance Journalist
Sandeep Virdee
Artistic Director and Founder Trustee at Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust
Annie Warburton
Chief Executive at Cockpit Arts
Sharon Watson
CEO and Principal of Northern School of Contemporary Dance
Claire Whitaker
Bid Director, Southampton City of Culture 2025
Nia Williams
Director of Learning and Engagement at National Museum Wales
Annie Lydford
Annie is Managing Director at Nevill Holt Opera