Our Committee

The APO committee is a small group of volunteers, both players and non-players, who work hard behind the scenes to put on concerts, organise rehearsals and engage with local communities to encourage participation in classical music.

Committee meetings are held roughly every month and cover a range of operational matters that are required to put concerts on, as well as more strategic discussions around future repertoire, fundraising initiatives and audience diversification. Members of APO are welcome to attend committee meetings or suggest items for the committee to discuss. Please contact the Chair for either.

The committee is comprised of:

Chair – Michael Rowley (chair@apo.org.uk)

Michael is responsible for chairing committee meetings, managing committee workload and ensuring APO’s compliance with APO’s constitution as well as with all legal / financial regulations.

Secretary – Helen Julia Minors (secretary@apo.org.uk)

Ana arranges and minutes committee meetings and is responsible for keeping records including lists of members, players and patrons. Bertie also arranges the AGM and is responsible for distributing papers in line with APO’s constitution.

Treasurer – Aoife Dudley (finance@apo.org.uk)

As Treasurer, Aoife is responsible for preparing APO’s year end accounts and performing financial analysis for each concert along with receipt of cash and payment of suppliers.

Outreach and Patrons Officer – Mel Hopkin (melhopkin@apo.org.uk)

The aim of the Outreach Officer position is to enable APO’s aim of widening the reach and diversity of their audience and encourage the local community to engage more with classical music. Emily oversees the Concert Virgin programme as well as building community links and running the Patron scheme.

Music Director – Andrew Taylor (md@apo.org.uk)

Andrew is responsible for all aspects of APO’s music-making, as well as being a general committee member.

Assistant Music Director – Mel Le Breuilly (mel@apo.org.uk)

Mel leads the team of string principals and carries out many of the same duties as the music director, including directing rehearsals, workshops and performances. She is also a general committee member.

In addition to the committee roles, APO benefits from a number of non-committee roles as follows:

Strings Coordinator – Sirikorn Green (strings@apo.org.uk)

As Strings Coordinator, Sirikorn organises the strings players for rehearsals and concerts. If you are a potential new member considering joining APO, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Sirikorn for further details or check out our joining page

Wind & Brass Coordinator – Caroline and Tom Brett (wind@apo.org.uk)

Caroline and Tom organise the wind and brass players for rehearsals and concerts. If you are a potential new member considering joining APO, we would love to hear from you, please contact Caroline and Tom for further details or check out our joining page.

Percussion Coordinator – David Pettinger (percussion@apo.org.uk)

As Percussion Coordinator, David organises the percussionists for rehearsals and concerts. If you are a potential new member considering joining APO, we would love to hear from you, please contact David for further details or check out our joining page

Librarians – Mel Le Breuilly and Anne Taylor (librarian@apo.org.uk)

Mel and Anne are responsible for ordering the music required for each rehearsal and concert, and ensuring that it has been distributed to the players.

Box Office – Cheryl and David Slater (boxoffice@apo.org.uk)

Cheryl and David are responsible for administering tickets for each concert and selling tickets on the day of the event.

Visual Media Artist – Ana Olarou (ana@apo.org.uk)

Ana is the creative force behind all our visual media, designing art work for concerts and other events, as well as creating member, patron and APO Young newsletters.

Tech Support – Rory Lawson (rory@apo.org.uk)

Rory is responsible for our behind the scenes techy stuff such as updating the website and online ticketing.

Stage Manager – Aoife Dudley (aoife@apo.org.uk)

Aoife is responsible for all aspects of concert day, from ensuring the lighting and staging is right to getting volunteers to help on the box office and selling programmes.

Social Secretary – Michael Rowley (michael@apo.org.uk)

Michael is responsible for organising orchestra social events.

APO Young Support Officer – Mel Hopkin (melhopkin@apo.org.uk)

Mel provides support and advice for the APO Young Crew.