Vocal Coach and Principal

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Jessie has been our vocal coach at the Warminster School for 3 years, now stepping up to the principal's role at Calne she knows the heart of A.C.T.S and what it is that makes us special.  Jessie started accompanying for singing classes when she was 11 and had her first Musical Directors job at the age of 14. This began her lifelong love of singing and musical theatre. Since then she has completed her BMus (hons.) in Music at the University of London in 2004 and is currently a freelance musical director, vocal coach, musical arranger and accompanist, alongside working for the wider A.C.T.S umbrella throughout WIltshire. Jessie has previously taught with Hackney Musical Development Trust in London, and currently provides private singing lessons to students in Swindon. In addition she is one of the principal tutors for Swindon based vocal education charity the JTPTrust and is heavily involved in the Swindon Fringe Festival In 2011 Jessie created a new adaptation of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera with Matt Fox at her theatre company 'Madam Rendards'. Since then Jessie has written the music for a number of new musicals and operas including Nights, Madrababes, The Indisposition of David Phillips & The Bridal Ballad, as well as many choral works including the annually performed Christmas piece The Holly, The Ivy & the Mistletoe. She has a real passion for musical theatre and loves to share it with our students!

Drama Coach

 

Kieran has been a professional actor for 25 years as well as a musical director and composer.  He has appeared at many theatres throughout the country with favourites being Salisbury Playhouse, Bristol Old Vic, the Watermill Theatre in Newbury and Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake.  Credits include Captain Flint in Swallows and Amazons at York Theatre Royal; Uriah Heep in David Copperfield at Oldham Coliseum; Irwin in The History Boys at Theatre by the Lake; Koko in The Mikado at the Stephen Joseph Theatre and The Mad Hatter at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton.

Kieran trained at Rose Bruford College in London on the Actor-Musician course and has since lectured at Italia Conti and many other further education institutions as well as teaching acting and singing in a variety of school and extra curricular settings. 

He has just finished a successful tour of "Same time, Next year" with London Classic Theatre Company.  

 

Dance Coach

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Ella has been a professional in Theatre as an actor, choreographer and director, for over fifteen years, appearing at many theatres, from Alan Ayckbourn’s Stephen Joseph Theatre, to the more local Salisbury Playhouse. Since training at the Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre, she has worked on more than 40 professional productions across the country, often as an actor-musician with violin in hand!

As a choreographer she has tackled everything from Regency Dance, to street, to dance-inspired fights, and as a  movement director she has worked with Frantic Assembly and many other cutting-edge companies, exploring ensemble work and the ways a cast can produce a physical vocabulary.

As a Dance Tutor she is qualified with the National Association of Teachers of Dance and has been teaching children since she herself was 11. She has lectured at Derby University and has taught everything from Salsa to Flamenco, Ballet to American Jazz, looking to a range of choreographers for her inspiration. She also often uses the musical interests of the groups she teaches to inspire her classes.

Ella qualified as a Children’s Counsellor in 2018 and uses these skills to ensure that her pupils are well supported and listened to.