Meet the IAMM assessors

Ben Henderson is a Trombone Specialist, and percussion teacher.

After growing up in Staffordshire, and playing trombone and drums in the local music centre, he went to study music at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.

Since leaving music college, Ben has been teaching music both individually and to whole classes. In addition to the mainstream side of education, he has been involved with organisations dedicated to the improvement of music provision to students with additional needs.

Outside of education, Ben can be found making music in and around the East Midlands with ensembles like Deep Down Brass, Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra and in the bands for musicals, and shows.

Lydia Savory is 27 years old and from Pontypool in (South Wales). She is currently working as a professional clarinettist, music tutor, and workshop leader / coordinator - since graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama with a BMus (Hons) in 2017 – specialising in clarinet performance and woodwind tripling. Since 2014, she has taught Clarinet, Flute & Saxophone to an advanced level, and Piano, Singing & Music Theory to an intermediate level, and now focuses mainly on private 1-1 tuition.

Lydia is passionate about enhancing transferable skills and bridging the gap between primary / secondary school music education - highlighting the need for increased accessibility and inclusivity within all musical opportunities.

Hilary Davies is a Music Therapist (HCPC registered), music teacher and multi-instrumentalist who lives in North Wales. She has over 20 years of experience as a performer and music teacher, specialising in a number of musical styles including Classical music, folk music, jazz and free improvisation. She currently works freelance as a music therapist, including work with adults and children with autism and / or learning disabilities, adults with profound and multiple learning disabilities and in palliative care. Hilary has an MA in Music Therapy (with distinction) from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and previously studied at the University of Cambridge (Gonville and Caius College), graduating with BA (Hons.) 2:1 and MA (Cantab.) degrees.

Hilary plays flute, violin, piano, guitar and crwth (a Welsh bowed lyre). She has achieved Grade 8 ABRSM on flute, violin and piano, and is also familiar with many other instruments from her work as a music therapist. Hilary has experience in teaching music and delivering music therapy sessions to people of many different ages (4 – 100!), abilities and needs. Her music therapy work often requires her to use detailed observation and creative thinking to adapt musical instruments to the needs of her clients.

Delphine Evans is a musician and educator with a background in performing, teaching and facilitating in the arts. She is a fully qualified music teacher and has over fifteen years’ experience of working with music services, in schools and on a private basis teaching piano, brass, singing and music theory. As a pianist, Delphine has performed as a soloist and with singers and instrumentalists in the U.K. and abroad in France and Canada. She also has an upbringing in the brass band tradition as a baritone horn player.

Delphine has an MA in 20^th century French music from the Sorbonne that she gained whilst living and working in Paris. She is an experienced conductor, accompanist and musical director, and enjoys leading choirs and working with colleagues to stage musical theatre productions. Delphine has an interest in arts and health and music as a therapeutic tool: she is currently focusing her practice on neurodivergent children and young adults and those with additional physical needs. Currently, Delphine is working in partnership with a friend to develop Lips Inked Arts, an organisation that delivers accessible and inclusive creative arts provision to underserved communities in Manchester and Derbyshire.

Delphine is the joint principal IAMM Programme Assessor for schools in the Northamptonshire region.

As Finance and Operations Officer at Creative United, I am responsible for the day-to-day to finance and operations of the business i.e. bookkeeping, credit control, prepayments, and assisting in the preparation of management accounts, annual financial statements, and financial forecast. Moreover, researching and deploying specific projects in consultation with the chief operations officer. I have accrued experience working within various organisations in finance, admin and operations over the last five years.

To pursue my passion for finance and accounting I have acquired a Masters in Business and a BA Hons in Accounting. In addition to this, I am an ACCA part-qualified which I aim to complete in the near future.

Furthermore, I am a dedicated practitioner of MMA, Boxing, and Kick Boxing. Since a young age, I have had a keen interest in Martial Arts that enabled me to achieve a black belt in Karate and participate in various championships including national, and won a gold medal.

As Consumer Credit Programmes Administrator, my role at Creative United allows me to meet with many different individuals and organisations. As first point of contact for both potential and current members of Own Art and Take it Away, I manage the onboarding of new members, lead training sessions, provide ongoing support, and assist in the everyday running of both schemes.

Graduating with a first in Theatre from LSBU, I have worked with many unique and interesting arts and cultural venues.  Whilst managing galleries and theatres across London, I have always worked hard to champion diversity and inclusivity in each of my job roles. This lead me to Creative United, inspired by the company's commitment to accessibility within the arts.

My love for art and culture has allowed me to share and develop many passions, including devising theatre, making music, learning languages and studying transcultural adaptations.

James Cunningham is a Northern Irish, visually impaired musician currently studying at Queen’s University Belfast as part of the Bridging the Gap project. He grew up in NI surrounded by a musical family, and he received his Bachelor’s in Music (BMus) from Queen’s with a focus on composition. James has had pieces premiered in both Belfast and London, and he is also an experienced improvisor with various instruments, most notably clarinet and piano. James’ Guide Dog Bart has travelled with him through much of the formative time in his musical career, and although he plans on retiring in Summer 2022, he will always hold a special place of honour in James’ work.

I’m Director of our Inclusive Access to Music Making (IAMM) Programme – a broad initiative looking to increase access to equal, quality music education. Within that, we have a particular focus on the use of accessible instruments – adapted musical instruments, technology and accessories which can be used by musicians who have difficulty with traditional ones. I manage and develop our work in this space including our flagship First Access Programme, working with Music Education Hubs to support disabled students in Whole Class Ensemble Teaching (WCET) and our membership in the Inclusive Music Consortium.

I worked in software development for several years whilst playing woodwind instruments in my spare time. I recently graduated with an MA in Music Education (instrumental teaching) from the University of York, where my research focus was on accessible instruments. I’ve recently started my PhD at York continuing to look at how the use of accessible instruments can be supported, and I still teach some woodwind students and play in local bands.

As well as that, I’m a big gamer, both of video games and TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. I love animals and have many pets including a Great Dane and lots of cats. I like languages and try to learn Swedish, German and Japanese when I have the time.

Jason Dasent has over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of recording and music production. Jason launched Studio Jay Recording in Trinidad in 2000 catering to both the Advertising Sector and Artist Production for many top Caribbean recording artists. He has done Music Scores/ Dialog Replacement & Post-Production for both films & documentaries.

As a visually impaired producer he was challenged to overcome the limitations of mainstream music software when “accessibility” was in its infancy. Over the years this has enabled him to compete successfully with his sighted counterparts and makes him well poised to impart his knowledge and experience to other visually impaired producers and engineers.

In 2017 Jason became a member of a worldwide team of Beta testers for accessibility with AVID ProTools, the first DAW to fully support accessibility. As a result of this project, with the knowledge gained, he now engages with several music
equipment manufacturers e.g. Native Instruments, Arturia, Focusrite/Novation and Antares Autotune among others, to assist them in introducing accessibility features to their products from the back end.

Annegret Affolderbach is a cultural futurist, experiential designer and artist.

With wide-reaching vision for planet and people, her work awakens us to the unexpected rooted in cultures, lifestyles and nature. In responses to landscapes and the cultural elements found within, she weaves together writing, matter, sound and movement into sensory experiences and creative strategies. Her works are powerful activations; reminders of our kinship with the living world.

She is currently Co-Curator of the BIG DO Design Hackathon for Textiles&Fashion 2030 Sweden AND writer and collaborator at ‘The Future Is Beautiful’, a podcast series challenging the dominant world story weaving politics, spirituality, sustainability and creativity.

Since 2016 she has been guiding creatives and businesses into seeding new possibilities and flourishing their unique potential at different stages in their careers. Her ‘LEAD THE WAY’ bespoke visioning sessions are a pause for visioning and laying new paths. LEAD THE WAY’s serve as an eye-opener; an opportunity for shaping personal and big visions, and setting out practical paths and foundations for living a purposeful life at our highest potential.

After studying ‘Fine Arts & Cultural Studies’ at Middlesex University, Annegret has lived her life in London and quite nomadically across the African continent.

She was part of pioneering the sustainable fashion movement alongside a group of beautiful ambitious peers, all reaching for a new alternative world using fashion as a vehicle to forge change.

She created sustainable textile and fashion brand Choolips in 2006 working with textiles artisans across West & East Africa and India. Her collections told stories fueled by nature’s beauty, forged social change and opened doors for Sustainable and African inspired fashion to global audiences. She was awarded ‘Royal Designers for Industry Scholarship’; ‘Young Fashion Entrepreneur of 2009 - British Council’; ‘Barclays Innovative Business 2008’.

In her previous role as Editor for Africa at WGSN.com, she extensively traveled across Africa researching cultures and lifestyles creating published works speaking of emerging fashion, culture, art, lifestyle, beauty, interiors and people of influence.

She was Editor for Sustainable Fashion at TRIBASPACE.com writing her own column ‘sustain’ on Eco/Sustainable Fashion and has contributed to NATAAL and WANTED MAGAZINE.