John Warrack was educated at Winchester and, after Army service in Greece and Egypt, at the Royal College of Music. He played the oboe in London orchestras and opera companies, then becoming Music Critic of The Sunday Telegraph and later Director of the Leeds Musical Festival before being elected a Fellow of St Hugh’s College and University Lecturer in Music at Oxford in 1984.
Oxford conferred the degree of DLitt. on him in 1989. He has also been visiting Professor of Music History at Nottingham University. His books include studies of Weber and Tchaikovsky, a Cambridge Handbook on Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and a history of German opera. He is also co-author of The Oxford Dictionary of Opera.
His editions include volumes for the New Berlioz Edition and Neue Weber Gesamtausgabe, and he has lectured and broadcast in Britain, Germany, Italy and the USA. He has made translations from French, German, Russian and Italian for festivals and opera companies including English National Opera, English Touring Opera, Oxford Opera and the Buxton and Ryedale Festivals. Of partly Scottish, partly Yorkshire roots, he is a strong believer in the local cultivation of music and is now President of the Ryedale Festival.
Geoff was appointed Chairman in September 2020, having served as deputy to his predecessors Robin Andrews and Richard Shephard. He became involved with the Festival because of its formidable artistic reputation regionally, nationally and internationally and the opportunity to help it grow and prosper. Born in Hull and with a first-class honours degree in Politics at the University of Sheffield, he spent 30 years with Glaxo, later GlaxoSmithKline, finishing as global Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications.
He served also as Chairman of Music for Youth, organisers of the School Proms, spurring a lasting commitment to increasing musical opportunity for young people. For the last 20 years he has combined consultancy with trusteeships and council memberships in academia and the arts, notably Opera North (12 years) and the University of Leeds (9 years) where he remains a member of Court.
He is also a trustee of Quadram Institute Bioscience. Geoff lives in Easingwold with his wife Sarah and they have two children and two grandchildren. Musical tastes span orchestral , string quartets through opera and jazz to the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.
Ed Anderson joined the Ryedale Festival Board in 2018 and was appointed Deputy Chair in 2020. He chairs the Finance Committee. In his executive career, he held senior posts in local government and was CEO of Leeds Bradford Airport for 10 years. He is a former Chair of the Yorkshire Building Society and has held a number of other leadership roles in the higher education, arts, health and charitable sectors. He is currently Chair of National Savings & Investments (NS&I), a trustee of Opera North and is the Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire. He was awarded the CBE in the 2022 New Years Honours list for services to the finance sector and public life in Yorkshire.
He has lived in Yorkshire for over 50 years, is married with four adult children and one grandchild. He has extremely wide tastes in music, covering virtually all genres; and has admired and supported the Ryedale Festival for many years.
Helen Dobson studied French with German at Durham University before training to be a chartered accountant with KPMG in Leeds. After four years in the audit department, industry beckoned and so began an international career visiting subsidiary companies in Paris and Verona for a large plastics manufacturer.
A ‘gap’ year in India saw her working with the Tibetan Government in exile in the foothills of the Himalayas in a voluntary capacity, whilst her husband worked with trainee Tibetan dentists. Following a four-year stint with a quango to monitor the finances of grant-maintained schools (and having two children), Helen joined Opera North as Finance Director in 1999.
During the 19 years with Opera North (and third child), Helen enjoyed lots of drama on and off the stage and was introduced to the world of music in all guises. Having retired from the day job in 2018 and enjoying some extended travels, cut short by the global pandemic, Helen has joined the voluntary sector as Trustee to a number of charitable organisations and treasurer to her local church. She is delighted to join the Board of Trustees of the Ryedale Festival, renew old friendships and once again be immersed in the creative industries.
Originally from Walsall in the West Midlands, Jenny came to Yorkshire as an undergraduate to study Music and Mathematics at the University of Leeds where, as a flautist, she specialised in performance.
Jenny has had a long and happy professional career developing her governance and leadership expertise in the Higher Education and Charity sectors. Her most recent role was Chief Executive Officer of the Ampleforth Abbey Trust until she retired in March 2024. She is an experienced charity trustee and charity governance expert.
Throughout her busy working life Jenny has retained her passion for a diverse array of music ancient and modern, religious and secular but a constant over 35 years has been her singing of close harmony in quartet and chorus, a hobby which has offered her the opportunity of extensive international travel and a lifelong network of friendships.
Jenny lives locally in Tollerton and is delighted to join the Board of the Festival which she has so enjoyed as an audience member in recent years since moving to the area.
Annette Ellis has been involved in music education for over 30 years. Having been taught and performed piano under Dame Fanny Waterman she subsequently studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, University of Manchester and the Royal Academy of Music. After teaching at Lady Manners School, Bakewell, Annette continued her studies with Margaret Parsons-Poole at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (RCM).
For over 20 years Annette was a member of the piano faculty and examining board of the RCM. Since returning to the UK, she has taught and adjudicated piano and has been involved in music education charitable initiatives including the Prince’s Trust (Children and the Arts). She believes in the importance of the arts, and particularly music, as a basis for developing human potential.
She was involved in introducing the innovative RCM ‘Learning through the Arts’ programme to the UK. Annette, a long-term supporter and patron of the Ryedale Festival, became a trustee in January 2022. She is aware of the importance of classical music to our health and wellbeing and is delighted to support an organisation with shared values. She is particularly keen to reach out to the younger generations.
Andrew has worked as a Consultant ENT Surgeon at York for more than thirty-three years, as Clinical Director of Head and Neck, and as Senior Lecturer at Hull York Medical School.
He has a specialist interest in Voice and Singing and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in special recognition of that work.
He has worked with opera singers, pop stars and choirs, and run regular training sessions in how to make best use of the voice professionally at the University of York, and nationally.
He was President of York Medical Society in 2011, and a director for twelve years. He was Master of the Company of Merchant Taylors’ York in 2015, and with Ryedale Festival, ran a double concert at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall and Merchant Adventurers’ Hall in York to celebrate 600 years of the Taylors’ Hall. He is a Trustee of Jessies Fund since 2017, using music therapy to help children in hospices, schools, and hospitals. He joined the Ryedale Festival Board in 2020. He believes passionately in the power of music to heal and transform lives.
Victoria is Dean of Chapel at St John’s College, Cambridge, working with one of the finest collegiate choirs in the world. Prior to this she was Canon Precentor of York Minster, overseeing the musical and liturgical life of the Cathedral. Before ordination she worked as a cancer research scientist and an advocate for interdisciplinary thinking. Victoria has sung in and directed choirs of all sizes and abilities, currently singing with a chamber choir in Cambridge. She is passionate about access to music and the arts and has a particular interest in arts festivals which improve access for new and diverse audiences. She is a trustee for the National Centre for Early Music in York and the Church Music Society. She sings daily as part of her work and also writes about the arts and music, and the intersection
between faith and science.
Thomas Schmidt, who was appointed as a trustee in May 2024, is Professor of Music and Head of the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures at the University of Manchester. Having trained as a music historian in Germany, he came to the UK in 2005, first as a professor at Bangor University and from 2012 at Manchester; also since 2012, he has been resident in York.
He has lectured and published widely on topics from Renaissance vocal polyphony to 19th century German Romanticism (including a textbook on the Sonata), with a particular focus on the life and compositions of Felix Mendelssohn. He is co-editor-in-chief of the new complete edition of Mendelssohn’s works, with editions of the three major symphonies and the concert arias – St. Paul is next.
As a researcher, educator, and higher education manager, Thomas is passionate about making outstanding music accessible to all ages and backgrounds, and as such is delighted to get more involved with the Ryedale Festival which has for a number of years been his and his wife’s high point of the summer in North Yorkshire.
Alison was appointed as a trustee of the festival in January 2020. She was very excited to join the festival because of its unique combination of incredible musical reputation, strong presence within the local community, and a growing international renown, all within the North of England.
Born in Durham, and having studied chemical engineering at both the University of Manchester and a Grande Ecole in Nancy, France, Alison has spent the majority of her career within the international manufacturing industry. For the last twenty years this has been focussed in strategic roles, and she is currently head of Strategy in Europe for Cummins Inc.
Alison has had a deep-rooted passion for music since early childhood, and has spent many years singing in choirs, as well as performing solo repertoire, managing to maintain her singing studies alongside engineering, both within the UK and in France. Musical tastes follow a very broad spectrum from chamber music and lieder, through opera, and jazz.
After studying Law at the University of Sussex and Université de Strasbourg, Yasin trained professionally as a Company Secretary with KPMG. He has spent his career in the Energy sector holding senior roles in BP and latterly as Group Company Secretary of a private multi-national conglomerate. He now divides his time between consulting, charitable work and supporting music in various capacities. He has previously been a charitable trustee and has chaired The Sir Jim Ratcliffe Philanthropic Foundation. He brings a wealth of corporate governance experience to the board.
Yasin has a particular interest in supporting and promoting promising young artists. He has been involved with numerous chamber music festivals for over two decades and has recently engaged with the celebrated International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove, supporting both their Masterclass and Open Chamber Music series. He also regularly supports the Jazz:Refreshed initiative which showcases up and coming UK talent.
An avid listener with wide ranging musical tastes, he seeks out live music wherever in the world his travels take him! He also plays the cello and enjoys participating in small chamber groups.
Since moving up to Helmsley where his partner Helen is based, he has participated in the Ryedale Festival as a volunteer. He was particularly drawn to the Festival owing to its wide -ranging, ambitious programming, its beautiful and historic settings and the impressive standard of the Young Artists scheme.
Gerard was born in Cottingham and started violin lessons at the age of seven. During schooldays in Hull, he played in five Youth Orchestras and frequently played chamber music. He studied Mathematics and Statistics at Birmingham University – but with his violin was treated as an honorary member of the music department.
He trained to be a teacher (Exeter and Truro), and taught mathematics at Archbishop Holgate’s Grammar School, York (1966-71) and Ampleforth College (1971-2004). Violin playing was always important and he has played in the York Guildhall Orchestra (from 1980 foundation to current) and the Helmsley/Ryedale Festival Orchestras (1981-1995).
His extra-curricular involvement at the College involved music and outdoor activities, including potholing, sailing and mountaineering (Scotland, Arctic Norway, Iceland and Kashmir amongst the destinations). From 1993 he was the College time-tabler and the examinations officer. Following retirement from the classroom he stayed to manage the running of the examination rooms until 2010. Proper retirement was a chance to put back into the musical world some thanks for support received over many years.
A gentle start with the Ryedale Festival (just giving a little help!) led him to greater and greater involvement: artist transport, health and safety, volunteer co-ordinator and then trustee. Gerard lives in Oswaldkirk.
Alan Davey hails from Stockton-on-Tees and has had an extensive career in Public Service, the Arts and Broadcasting. He has worked for the Department of Health and Social Security and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, was Chief Executive of Arts Council England from 2007-2014 and Controller, BBC Radio 3, BBC Proms and BBC Orchestras and Choirs from 2015-2023. He is an Honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) at the University of Birmingham and a Doctor of Art (D.Art) at the University of Teesside. He was made a CBE in 2015 for services to the Arts. He has been an admirer of the Ryedale Festival, and the excellence and adventurousness of its programme, for many years. Being able to help the Festival go from strength to strength is a dream come true. Alan was appointed as a trustee of the Festival in December 2024.