HMM - Key Persons
Angela, who has served on the Hear My Music board since 2016, has around 20 years' experience in the third sector, with 15 years in senior management and leadership positions. She is now in her second charity CEO post, having made the move from the environment sector to the rape crisis sector. Outside of work she is involved in the Scottish ultramarathon community including co-directing the Jedburgh Three Peaks Ultra which raises funds for charity, is passionate about advocating for inclusion and equality, and spends most of her free time with her rescue dog. Angela joined the board owing to her experience in charity operations and governance and by her own admission not due to any musical talent!
Clea works as a professional cellist and community musician in as many different places as she can. After studying music in Edinburgh and America she returned to Scotland to complete her MSc Music in the Community which reinforced her passion for using music to enable non-verbal communication for those who prefer not to use words.
Hear My Music is an important component of Clea's working life and has brought her some of her most rewarding moments as a community musician.
Job Titles:
- Board Director
- Business Consultant
Dr Colin MacKenzie FHEA is a long-term business practitioner and a specialist lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland.
He has taught across a range of subjects such as: leadership, sales, research methods, entrepreneurial leadership and human resources management both in the UK and in Asia.
Colin is currently a business consultant and board director. He has previously served on the Scottish Advisory Board of BBC Children in Need and for eighteen years fund-raised for Action for Children as well as being a Trustee of the Cattanach Trust.
Colin is interested in music and claims to play his hi-fi like an expert.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Hear My Music Board
Moyra has been a member of the Hear My Music board since 2010. Moyra is both a qualified social worker with extensive experience working with traumatised and disabled children and also a qualified Music Therapist, working with a range of children and young people individually and in group settings. She is involved in various community music activities, playing piano, harpsichord, clarinet and concertina, and supports her local community choir. Moyra also loves walking, back-packing, gardening and generally being outdoors.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Hear My Music Board
Shelly has been a member of the Hear My Music board since the start in 2010.
She is an experienced community musician, researcher and brings knowledge of setting up and leading Givin' it Laldie, another community music charity in Glasgow.
Shelly is passionate about high quality music-making opportunities being accessible for all musicians.
She completed her PhD in 2020 exploring how singers who have experienced homelessness and music leaders give meaning to the experience of group singing participation and she has conducted research for Arts and Homeless International with a team of co-researchers with lived experience of homelessness, producing a review of arts and homelessness in Scotland. Shelly loves dogs and is a puppy walker for the Guide Dog Association, and currently ‘training' dog number 6 .
Emily co-founded Hear My Music in 2010 based on the belief that music is a powerful communicative tool that can change lives. She is a violinist with a long-term fascination and passion about the use of music within the community as a vehicle for all sorts of magic to happen, particularly for people with complex needs and/or autism. This led her to complete her MSc Music in the Community at Edinburgh University in 2009 and subsequently set up HMM.
Through delivering sessions and running HMM, Emily has developed a strong passion for nurturing ‘hidden' talents in individuals; and is delighted when participants demonstrate remarkable musical abilities that she can only dream of! She is a charity trustee on the board of the Glad Foundation and an active member of Sound Sense. Emily likes to spend as much of her free time as possible outdoors, walking, running, and cycling around Scotland, often with her dog Isla in tow.
Emma is a Scottish singer songwriter living in Glasgow and is known for their Folk roots and a deep rich voice. When it comes to song writing, they will never shy away from an important topic and they know how to craft meaningful stories into song.
Emma often works on community music projects and believes strongly in the power of music to inspire, unite and heal, especially original song writing. Emma also writes in Old Scots and in 2017 won the Hands up for Trad Scots song writing competition. Additionally, in 2021, Emma was awarded the Scottish Women Inventing Music: Making Waves award for their hard hitting BurdSong project.
Emma has recently been commissioned by Powa Scotland to create a song highlighting gender inequalities, and is currently a performer on the Live Music Now Scotland scheme.
John stays in Holytown, Motherwell, and has two sons, John and Andrew, with his wife Anne.
John works part time as a support worker and is also the Vice Chairman of Phew Respite in Motherwell, where he has successfully fundraised over many years.
Andrew, his youngest son, has autism and severe learning difficulties. As a carer for Andrew, John has an insight into the challenges parents/carers face, and John hopes this will allow him to bring a different perspective to the Hear My Music Board.
Joni started working with Hear My Music in 2013 and started out by volunteering on a Tuesday afternoon! It was the highlight of her week and still is.
Katie works part-time as Project Manager for Hear My Music. She enjoys her role supporting the delivery of Hear My Music's work, being a vital part of a small team that has a big impact for individuals and the community.
Katie is also Project Manager for Live Music Now Scotland, and Youth Music Initiative Development Officer for Renfrewshire Council, where she also teaches upper strings.
In addition to her project management roles, Katie is a freelance violinist and has performed as a chamber musician and Scots fiddle player across the world. She has performed at festivals including Glastonbury and Celtic Connections and has given live performances on BBC Radio.
Katie is a foodie and loves eating out when she can! She also enjoys spending time with her family outside and exploring new places.
Lorna is a music practitioner based in Glasgow who loves to sing and play guitar and drums. She has worked with a lot of groups over the years, leading singing and music workshops for children and adults from all different back grounds, including community choirs like Unite Fight Sing choir in Govanhill, Alzheimer's Scotland Singing Memories and MusicALL. Lorna also performs solo, writing songs about a range of social issues.
She studied music at Glasgow University and was lucky enough to study music in Ghana, at the Tafi Cultural Institue. Lorna is a great lover of Ghanaian singing, dance and drumming and a great believer in learning and sharing music from different cultural backgrounds.
She passionately believes in the power of music in bringing people together, in giving expression to all voices and instilling a sense of confidence, calm and joy.
Mary Bell trained in illustration and design at Glasgow School of Art and then gained a PGCE in secondary and primary education at Jordanhill, University of Strathclyde. She also studied voice and guitar at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Mary is also an art and music therapist.
Mary has personal experience in relearning to understand music since losing her hearing when she was 36 due to Meningitis and Meniere's disease. She is fluent in BSL and relies on lip-reading to understand speech. Mary has taught music to Deaf children in Gourock for the last 14 years and hopes to continue this important work; her vision is to expand it to include Deaf accessible music workshops for young people and adults in other areas. She was nominated as BBC's 2015 Unsung Music Hero in Scotland for her work with Deaf children.
Mary is passionate about making music accessible to everyone, regardless of background or ability. She firmly believes that music is fun and that all of us should participate in it much more than we do!
Mary is also an enthusiastic wheelchair curler; she has played in national competitions and recently led her teammates to victory in the Highland Wheelchair Curling Triples.
Matt grew up in a large, musical family of seven siblings. Sharing his love of music with others has always been his passion. This grew all the more as he studied classical singing for six years, initially in Edinburgh College and then at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. Since then he has had a varied career of performing, choral conducting, and community music, as well as writing and composing.
"It has been my privilege to work with Hear My Music over a number of years. I am constantly inspired by their commitment to reaching adults and children with the healing power of music. Hear My Music brings hope and joy to some of Scotland's most vulnerable individuals and I consider it an honour to be a part of that."
Melissa is originally from a teaching background and has an MSc in Music Therapy. She is excited to be involved with Hear My Music and about using music as a means of communication and expression, in an inclusive way. Outside of HMM, Melissa directs two choirs and teaches instrumental lessons.
Job Titles:
- Lead Practitioner and Funding Officer
Morag Currie is a violist, fiddler, composer and music educator, currently based in Paisley, but originally from Thurso in Caithness. She performs in a diverse range of genres and ensembles, from traditional Scottish music to Classical and contemporary . Morag's own works are rooted in folk music, but also make use of electronics, digital workstations and sampled sounds.
Noanie is our part-time administrator and does a lot of non-musical sorting, filing, and emailing. In addition to her HMM role, Noanie is an event organiser, an Equality and Diversity advisor to Scottish Athletics, a welfare officer for a national dog rehoming charity, and is usually fostering at least one dog - in addition to her own three.
Ollie is a Glasgow-based musician who holds a Masters degree in Composition from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. As a music practitioner, he strives to bring the joys and comforts of music and sound to everyone he works with, and loves to learn and create with participants in both pop music contexts and more experimental music-making. Outside of work and study he enjoys reading, singing and cycling.
Job Titles:
- Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
Paula is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a Certified Tax Advisor. She is currently Global Finance Director for an International Technology company and during her 14 years in the industry has performed a variety of strategic, technical & leadership accounting & finance roles. She has completed Business leadership development program's at both Hong Kong University & INSEAD Business School in Singapore and has been awarded Group Finance Collaboration Champion on two occasions. Prior to her roles in the Technology sector Paula has also worked across a number of different businesses in the retail, manufacturing, banking and utilities sectors including owner managed + SME. She is a Technology Women in Leadership Mentor as well as a student mentor for local Accounting students and Treasurer for the Parent Council of the school her daughters attend. She has two children and two dogs to keep her busy, but also enjoys running and music in her spare time.
Ruth is a professional musician (Scottish harp) and music teacher. She studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she completed a Diploma in Music Education and BA Hons Scottish Music. Ruth is passionate about music education and enjoys working on varied projects in school and community settings. She is excited to work with Hear My Music and promote inclusive music-making opportunities.
In her free time, Ruth loves reading, independent cinema, and jigsaw puzzles.
Originally hailing from the Shetland Islands, Sophie is a Glasgow based harpist who loves showing music, and the harp, to as many people in as many different places as possible!
Having worked with Live Music Now Scotland for several years as a performer in community settings, Sophie is very excited to have the opportunity working as a Hear My Music practitioner, getting to see even more of the joy, happiness and fulfilment that music can bring. Apart from being a total music enthusiast, Sophie loves trips to the cinema, pub quizzes and Vietnamese food.