Meet The Staff - The Peoples Orchestra

Charlotte Champneys is a conductor, piano and singing teacher

and mezzo-soprano musician based in Stirchley. She is passionate about enabling groups to enjoy singing together and make music

that’s inspiring and accessible to all.

Having previously worked with Services for Education in Birmingham,

Music for Everyone in Nottingham and several projects in Sheffield, Charlotte

has over 9 years of music education and singing leading experience.

Alongside West Bromwich TPSC, she also conducts the HSBC UK Choir and the Birmingham Newman University choir.

In her spare time, she enjoys looking after her guinea pigs, singing with Choros Amici choir and composing her own music!

Liz is a freelance musician based in Birmingham with areas of expertise in vocal, woodwind and piano. She began conducting choirs while working as a primary school teacher, and has developed her conducting skills through the Sing For Pleasure Foundation.

Liz began conducting TPSC South Birmingham in January 2020 and now leads three of the TPSC choirs (Bearwood, Dorridge and South Birmingham) alongside teaching musicianship at Warwick Boys school and other 1:1 vocal and instrumental lessons for Shades Music and Kimichi School.

In her free time she enjoys aerial silks, dance fitness and working on her own music projects.

Lorna is a Professional Musician, beginning her career as a Classically trained concert pianist, studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, having completed grade 8 piano age 10, alongside grade 8 cello. Lorna performed piano concertos across Europe and worked as a Musical Director of various shows in London/touring, appointed as official accompanist for the Association of British Choral Directors and has been Musical Director of numerous choirs and musical theatre groups across the UK for many years. Lorna moved from London to Shropshire in 1999, completing a Postgraduate teaching qualification to build upon her prior experiences of being Professor of Music at Blackheath Conservatoire of Music and RADA in London. Lorna was a Senior Leader and Head of Music for 21yrs before moving into a portfolio career – combining elements of education, leadership and working as a professional musician. Current job roles include Musical Director for The People’s Show Choir Shrewsbury and The Darby Singers Community Choir, MD for multiple Musical Theatre societies (2023 includes School of Rock for Shrewsbury Musical Theatre Company, 9 to 5 for Telford and District Light Operatic Players and Joseph for Wellington Community Musical), teaching at Wrekin College/Future Talent Learning, plus freelancing as pianist, conductor, vocal workshops, consultancy work, adjudicator for festivals and competitions and published choral arranger.

Martha is a freelance musician based in the Midlands. She is a singer, pianist, instrumentalist and choral conductor. Having trained with choral conducting charity Sing For Pleasure, she musically directs both the HMP Stafford prison choir with Beating Time and the South Birmingham choir Northfield Notes, accompanies the HSBC choir, teaches class singing for a music service and has recently been appointed an Associate Choral Leader with St Martins in the Fields to run community projects*. She is delighted to work with The People’s Show Choir and set up the brand new Wolverhampton branch - everyone is welcome, so don’t worry if you’ve never sung before!

After retraining as a music teacher in 2010, Natasha decided to start her first community choir shortly after and has been leading community choirs in the Northants area ever since! Natasha has been leading the Brackley choir since September 2022. She also sings and plays the double bass (yes at the same time). Natasha also enjoys weightlifting at her local gym and has a full motorbike licence (but no bike at the moment!).

Elliot is an energetic and sprightly musician based in Wimbledon. He is an enthusiastic conductor, singer and educator who is passionate in working with a wide range of singers leading musically engaging sessions for all levels. As well as working as Head of Co-Curricular Music at a school based in the heart of London, he currently works with the choirs at Bookham Choral Society, Parish of Holy Trinity and St Mary's Churches, Guildford and as Assistant Conductor with the National Children's Choir of Great Britain.

Elliot is regularly in demand across the country to lead singing workshops, work with choirs and teach singing across a variety of ages and backgrounds. He is delighted to return to The People's Show Choir after a wonderful time leading in Central Birmingham and conducting The People's Orchestra prior to his move to London.

Elliot graduated with a first-class degree in Music from the University of Birmingham, where he majored in choral conducting and took part in as much as singing and music-making as he could get away with. Elliot has previously sung in National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and CBSO Chorus, as well as leading the Ring of Sound Community Choir among other ensembles in London and Birmingham.

Recently, he has worked with the London Youth Choirs as an Assistant Leader, London Youth Conservatoire as their Choir Leader, the national choral charity, Sing for Pleasure as Executive Assistant, and with Crouch End Festival Chorus as their Young Conducting Scholar. Away from music, he enjoys reading, honing his mediocre badminton skills and refereeing football, but has never been able to properly introduce singing into his game management.

Sandra Burne has an eclectic background including: choral leader; tutor/teacher of woodwind (flute, recorder, and sax), Maths, and English for Academic Purposes; and IT management. At various times she has performed in amateur and professional choirs, vocal groups, orchestras, bands and ensembles, in a variety of styles from classical to jazz, from church music to klezmer, and from folk to show tunes. Prior to moving to Cheltenham in 2008, she lived in the US and the Netherlands. Throughout her life, Sandra has maintained her love of choral singing and started conducting choirs once she realised that, of all her musical experiences, it is conducting that gives her the most satisfaction. Besides leading the Cheltenham People’s Show Choir and Local Vocals, Sandra leads chamber, church, and club choirs in the area.

Amy joined The People’s Orchestra as its first member in 2013, playing the French Horn. After aiding the orchestra throughout its development, Amy now handles the administration for the show choirs across the Midlands. In her spare time, Amy also works as a Steward in theatres across Birmingham and freelances in Art and Illustration. Amy’s spare time is filled with reading, gaming, and learning new languages. Her favourite genre of books are murder mystery and fantasy, while her gaming is rather less dramatic, such as Animal Crossing.

One of her favourite moments at TPO is when they arranged, and then preformed the train flash mob.

Farah works as a Business Administrator, which involves researching and making grant funding applications to support TPO’s projects and activities. She greatly enjoys the fact that her work involves writing proposals as it allows her to find creative and original ways to present TPO’s project concepts and upcoming activities.

Farah’s own personal achievements include volunteering during her studies at university, on a project that aimed to educate teens aged 14-16 on staying safe whilst using social media. The project was an opportunity for her to work in a team of like-minded individuals to research and create materials that would be presented in schools across the UK.

In her spare time, she enjoys reading fantasy and mystery novels. Her favourite childhood books are the Nancy Drew series by Mildred Writ Bensen, and currently her favourite series is the Chronicles of Ixia Trilogy by Maria V. Snyder. She is also quite partial to travelling abroad as well as going on road trips across the UK with her family. 

Jamie is the Project Administrator, meaning one of his main roles is to edit videos and upload them to the TPO website. He also gets to help at concerts, which is always fun.

One of his biggest achievements was getting a 2:1 in Film and TV Production, another being where he made a documentary about autistic people during the pandemic, along with giving a Vote of Thanks speech at his graduation in from of more than 400 people.

Jamie has experience in children’s television, doing some work at Milkshake Channel 5 where he got to see many aspects of children’s tv production. He also volunteers at the Severn Valley Railway, helping restore heritage carriages and wagons for use on the railway for visitors.

“It’s not what happens to you; it’s how you handle it,” is one of Jamie’s favourite quotes, a great mindset to have.

Personally, Jamie loves a good variety of music, but his absolute favourite is pop-punk, bands such as Busted, Wheatus, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Son of Dork. They remind him of good times. His favourite films are Baby Driver and Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

Mariann Harris works for The Peoples Orchestra, where she has supported the back to work programme for over a decade. This role involves providing job and career direction to those in need, as well as CV creation and specific 1 -1 guidance on how to impress at job interviews.

During her time at TPO, Mariann is confidents she has helped get more than 1,500 people back into paid employment, further training, or higher education. It’s a really enjoy for her to listen to people talk about their career aspirations. She loves being a mentor and watching others develop and find their way. She also gets true satisfaction from leading group conversations towards a positive conclusion.

In her home life, Mariann loves getting lost in listening to music from the movies, especially grand love themes. Her all-time favourite is the soundtrack from The Piano. On Saturdays she gets busy preparing and cooking tasty meals to a set budget. The greatest achievement of her life, she would say, would be supporting her daughter to achieve her career goal and reach financial independence.

Peter Davies qualified as an accountant in 1984 and spent his early years in the manufacturing companies of Lancashire before moving on to retail with Woolworths, and later a DTI recognised Business Advisor, helping SME companies grow in the 1980’s. After a spell in the travel industry, peter is now working with several charities during this difficult time. In his spare time he is an enthusiastic cyclist and has ridden across the Himalayas amongst other adventures.

Sarah Marshall is the Founder, Artistic and Managing Director of The People’s Show Choir, The People’s Orchestra and The Rusty Players Orchestra. 

Founded with a principle wish to keep people playing music, Sarah grew an initially small ensemble into The People’s Orchestra, one of the UK’s leading community orchestras, in just a few short years. Sarah set out to prove that orchestras and choirs can be set up, ran differently and still wow audiences with a high standard of performance. 

Since then, The People’s Orchestra has expanded to include a team of volunteers aiding with the back-office roles such as marketing, administration, and graphical design. The charity has gone on to help hundreds of people back into paid employment, education or on to set up their own businesses, all in one of the most deprived areas of England. 

A former “Outstanding” (Ofsted 2004) primary school teacher, Ula is a leading conductor, teacher trainer and workshop leader, whose work has taken her around the UK and as far afield as Hong Kong, Uganda, Ukraine, Thailand, China and New Zealand. 

Ula is an expert in developing choral and classroom singing and has delivered singing strategies for Sandwell and Dudley Music Hubs. Ula sings with the renowned choir Ex Cathedra and is one of their lead education vocal tutors. She co-created Ex Cathedra Education’s internationally acclaimed and award-winning Singing Playgrounds project. 
A trained choral conductor, Ula currently conducts CBSO SO Vocal (a 200-strong community choir run by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra), the HSBC Choir in Birmingham and the Birmingham City Council Choir (as featured in the 2013 BBC2 programme ‘The Choir’, with Gareth Malone). She is the founder and Musical Director of Echo Doliny (The National Polish folk choir) and the National Teachers’ Choir. Most recently Ula has been appointed conductor of the CBSO Children’s Chorus. 

As Head of Events for the National Choral Organisation, Sing for Pleasure (SfP), Ula organises conducting and singing courses across the UK and abroad. She regularly tutors on SfP conductor training courses and is Course Director for their annual Summer School. 

“I have yet to see anyone mesmerise 250 children at a time more than Ula. From first meeting she has the children completely under her spell, inspiring confidence & belief that they can do something extraordinary together.” Edward Armitage, JAM Chairman. 

Ula is our freelance Choral Program Director, she conducts at events and leads the Halesowen People’s Show Choir and our Online Show Choir

Meet our Team

Charlotte Champneys

Chris Weber

Liz Read

Lorna Parkhouse

Martha Littlehales

Natasha Thompson

Elliot mercer

Sandra Burne

Saphran Ali

Jenny Armitage

Amy Marshall

Farah Sayeed

Jamie Parker

Matthew Whitehouse

mariann Harris

Peter Davies

Sarah Marshall

Ula Weber

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