Meet the Team

Lizzie Graham

Director

Lizzie started Longborough Festival Opera with her husband Martin and ran it for 24 years. In that time she helped the opera grow from an outdoor affair on hay bales into the 500 seat opera house of today. They have 3 children 31, 28 and 25 who have grown up with opera in their garden, the eldest of whom, Polly, is now an opera director based in Cardiff.

Lizzie retired at the end of the 2014 season, though is still actively involved in the artistic planning as well as strategic direction of the charity.

Alongside scouting new talent for Longborough, Lizzie fits in the odd stint of babysitting two grandchildren aged 5 and 1 who have started on their own journey of opera appreciation.

Jennifer Smith

General Manager

Jennifer joined Longborough in April 2014 as General Manager, taking on the role from Lizzie Graham. Previously Head of Operations at the Plunkett Foundation, Jen developed and managed a range of projects including a multi-partner £10 million Lottery-funded programme. Jen’s background includes project management, financial management, development, and strategic planning. While Jen has worked in both the charitable and private sectors, her heart has always belonged to the arts. She has degrees in music and business and a master in arts administration.

As a classically trained soprano, Jen loves nothing more than being immersed in music. She has performed with local orchestras and music societies across Oxfordshire.

Fenner Curtis

Marketing & Press

Fenner joined the team at Longborough as Marketing and Press Manager in 2016. With a background in arts marketing, he spent seven years working across Cheltenham's four Festivals of Jazz, Science, Music and Literature.

He is also a keen musician, a violinist of hot jazz that can often be found performing throughout the Cotswolds and beyond with the ensemble Swing from Paris: a quartet of guitars, violin and double bass that specialise in the 1930s French jazz of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli.

Gill Powell

Membership & Development

A former BBC radio producer, Gill began her career as a researcher on Radio 4’s The Archers. She left Ambridge for St Kitts where, through VSO, she made schools radio programmes. Back in the UK, she was appointed Individual Giving Manager with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She recently completed a full-time MA Creative Writing (Non-Fiction), runs memoir-writing courses and shares the joy of country living in Herefordshire with her partner John and various chickens.

James Batley

Box Office

James has worked in ticketing for many years at the Courtyard in Hereford and then more recently for The Ticket Factory. There he managed the ticketing for the Royal Horticultural Society and the Chelsea Flower Show. He joined Longborough in August 2015 to install the new ticketing system Spektrix and now finds himself ordering marquees and other temporary structures too. He lives in Herefordshire with his girlfriend, drinks ale and agonises over his football team.

Emma Silcock

Box Office

Having lived in Longborough for a few years with her young family, Emma first became involved with the Opera because of a misdialed phone call from an opera singer needing accommodation, attending her first opera as a thank you for accommodation 5 years ago. When not taking your ticket bookings she can be found ferrying her teenagers around the Cotswolds or hot air ballooning.

Lauren Brice

Artistic Administration

Lauren joined Longborough as Artistic Administrator in September 2016, having worked as a freelance marketer and previously as Marketing Executive at Cheltenham’s Jazz, Science, Music and Literature Festivals.

A relentless baker and eater of cake, one of her most important roles is maintaining a steady supply of sugary treats to the office. She sings soprano with Gloucester Choral Society and plays the piano, when the mood takes her. She loves travelling to far-flung places, going for country walks and is a bit addicted to Instagram.

Jessica May

Education

A passionate music educator, Jessica loves nothing else than causing mayhem in the classroom and devising ‘utterly bonkers’ workshops that bring opera and classical music to life in rural schools. In addition to her work at Longborough, she is part of the team who run the Chipping Campden Music Festival and is a much sought after accompanist, working with Roderick Williams, David Pollard, and Maria Lidka, among others. Additionally, she has a thriving local teaching practice and a much neglected family, which suits her teenage boys very well.

Julie McClintock

Finance

From headhunting in St James’s Square to Wagner in the Cotswolds, the variety for bookkeepers is endless. Julie has been working at Longborough for over three years, and says "I can honestly say I had no idea what to expect. I have found a job that has not only expanded my - sadly - somewhat lacking Wagner knowledge but has also provided me with a sometimes challenging, yet always interesting, role." Julie lives in a small village the other side of Chipping Norton where she attempts to control a somewhat 'rustic' garden as a contrast to working with figures.

Dora

Dora has been looking after the office and overseeing all activities since 2003. Alongside a wealth of operatic knowledge, her specialisms include barking at visitors, sleeping where she can trip over as many people as possible and sniffing out exceptional picnics during the summer months. She is an excellent timekeeper, particularly for dinner time, and ensures she is always at the centre of any action.

Box Office and Administration

Longborough Festival Opera
New Banks Fee
Longborough
Moreton-in-Marsh
Gloucestershire, GL56 0QF.

Telephone: 01451 830292
Email: boxoffice@lfo.org.uk

Box Office opening hours: 10am - 4pm,
Monday to Friday.