Hilary Dennis

Course director

Hilary Dennis is our course director and conductor of full orchestra and the wind band. An experienced director, she has conducted the concert band at the Greenbelt festival, led courses for Musicale Ltd and more recently for the British Double Reed Society, as well as being the founder and director of South London Double Reed days.

Principal oboist with the Camerata of London, Hilary also works as a freelance orchestral player and chamber musician. She has been an examiner for the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) since 2015, working throughout the UK and internationally in such places as Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Annmarie McDade

string tutor

Violinist Annmarie McDade is a regular performer in West End shows, and has worked with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and other leading professional orchestras around the country.

Vivienne French

choir director • string tutor

Vivienne teaches Singing at Nonsuch High School where she conducts the award-winning choir ‘Vox Celestes’, who have won multiple trophies at music festivals and recorded several albums. She also teaches violin and viola, and as a freelance viola player has performed at most major concert halls in the UK.

David French

woodwind tutor • accompanist

Freelance oboist, professional accompanist, and organist David French frequently performs in major concert halls across the UK and abroad, as well as for weddings and functions across England.

With over 30 years experience teaching, David enjoys inspiring pupils of all ages and abilities from beginners up to conservatoire entrance level, producing excellent results in exams and music festivals.

Helen Secker

musical explorers • hand bells

Helen is Head of Music as Cumnor House School in South Croydon, where she teaches music to children from 2 – 13 years old, leads a wide variety of choirs, instrumental ensembles and musical productions. A clarinettist and piano teacher, she also rings, conducts and teaches handbells throughout the South-East region of the Handbell Ringers of Great Britain, nationally and internationally.

Helen directs the Musical Explorers course, providing resources and personalizing activities so everyone can get the most from their time on the course.

Daniel Barnes

Conductor

Daniel studied Music at Bristol University before completing his Masters degree in performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He has extensive orchestral experience as a tubist, performing both as a concerto soloist and an orchestral player in major concert halls across the UK.

Daniel began conducting at university, directing a range of ensembles from smaller chamber groups to full size orchestras and fully staged opera performances. He has been working with Hilary and many of the SLMD team since 2009 on a range of summer music courses and thoroughly enjoys sourcing and arranging music for the wide range of musical offerings provided.

Sam Gee

woodwind tutor

Sam trained in music performance at Trinity College of Music and the University of Manchester, and in music production at Salford University and Media City. He now works with musicians across a wide range of genres and backgrounds, including classical, jazz, dixie, folk, klezmer, and balkan brass, and was recently a finalist for a Manchester Cultural Award for his project fusing traditional Irish and Jewish folk music.

As a multi-instrumentalist, Sam also performs regularly as a woodwind-doubler for theatre productions, playing saxophone, bassoon and clarinet, as well as in his regular spot as a jazz pianist in a 1920s dixie-inspired function band, where he writes and arranges a lot of their repertoire.

Hannah Roberts

brass tutor

Hannah is a trombone scholar at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She was a member of the National Youth Wind Orchestra and the Young Orchestra for London where she worked with orchestras such as the LSO, LPO and Berlin Philharmonic and with the renowned conductor Sir Simon Rattle.

Hannah has performed at venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, the Barbican and the Lucerne Music Festival. For many years she was a member of Sutton Music Service where she was also a brass tutor at residential courses. Hannah also provides workshops in schools with her brass ensemble.

Chris Avins

String Tutor

Chris has gained a wealth of experience from playing in ensembles throughout his education. From regularly attending holiday music courses to leading the Croydon Youth Orchestra. He continues to have a great passion for music but chose to follow an academic path, recently completing a PhD in computational chemistry.

Chris is also deeply dedicated to education; currently working as an Educational Technology content developer and learning designer at the University of Birmingham. He wants to highlight how much music has aided him in his educational development and wants to encourage playing music as an integral part of a well-rounded education.

Tutors