Board & Management

Jonathan Godfrey was the Principal of Hereford Sixth Form college for 20 years.  In 2016, Hereford Sixth Form College was the inaugural winner of the TES Sixth Form College of the Year award and was the first sixth form college to gain academy status.

Jonathan read chemistry at Jesus College, Oxford and after gaining a Doctorate in peptide chemistry worked in the pharmaceutical industry before becoming a teacher.  He played violin in the university orchestra and continued to play in amateur orchestras thereafter and currently sings counter tenor in the Academia Musica choir based in Hereford.

In 2010, Jonathan was cited by the Sunday Times and HR Magazine as one of the top 5 most people-focused CEO’s in the public sector, in 2013 he was awarded an OBE for services to education and was made a Fellow of the University of Worcester.

He is Chair of Trustees of the English Symphony Orchestra, Chair of Trustees of Herefordshire Music Service (Encore) and Chair of Trustees of the Herefordshire Music Fund, a charity he founded to provide financial assistance to young people in Herefordshire to access instrumental and vocal lessons. Jonathan is also on the advisory council of the Hay Festival.

Richard became involved with the ESO in late 2019 and joined the Board at the start of 2020. HIs background is in Financial Management and is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant. In the early years of his career he spent around twenty years working for manufacturing companies including British Steel, Nottingham Manufacturing and British Sugar in various locations including Corby, Sheffield, and Peterborough. He then moved back to Worcestershire, where he had lived from the age of 11 to 18, working for some twenty years as the Finance Manager at Worcester Sixth College, following legislative changes in 1994 which removed Further Education Colleges from Local Government control.

Richard says he is, sadly, no musician, but has always enjoyed listening to music, his father being a classical music enthusiast and indeed in his retirement a trustee of the Elgar Society. 

Richard’s own tastes are wide ranging, from classical to rock music!’

Christopher began a teaching career as a Lecturer in Economics at Brunel University, subsequently holding senior leadership positions in the secondary education sector for over four decades. 

For 26 years he was Head of Whitgift, a leading independent school. He has served on the boards of six organisations, including several charities, and worked as a consultant on international school development. He has an MBE for services to education and was appointed Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques by the French government for services to French culture. 

He has written and directed two critically-acclaimed exhibitions, Hidden Treasures from the Mary Rose and Remembering 1916, a biography of a Tudor clergyman, and a historical novel, as well as directing, for ten years, a Festival of Cricket for Surrey CCC.

He is a passionate advocate for the life-enhancing value of music. He created a major biennial competition to bring brilliant students from around the world to study in England and attend conservatoires and has promoted concerts in venues including The Royal Festival Hall, The Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall, Central Hall, Westminster, and St John’s Smiths Square. He established close partnerships with The London Mozart Players and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He greatly enjoys listening to music and collecting recordings, of which he has a personal library of more than 15,000, principally on vinyl.

David Blake became Managing Director of Worcester City Council in March 2017, bringing approximately 15 years of experience in the manufacturing sector worldwide and nearly 20 years in the public sector in various chief executive, executive and non-executive director roles Prior to his appointment as Managing Director, he served as Worcester City Council’s Corporate Director for Place, where he oversaw planning policy, economic development and housing management 

Before joining Worcester City Council, David worked as a non-executive director of Urban Regeneration Companies in Walsall and Sandwell, playing a key role during their formative years with a strong track record in public sector organisational development 

He has overseen major projects including the construction of Cathedral Square, the development of Scala (the city’s new arts centre), the regeneration of Victorian railway arches, and the Building Block II skills training centre in Dines Green He also managed the council’s response to the Covid pandemic, including delivering £42 million in support to Worcester businesses 

David retires from this role in March 2026 but will remain on the board of ESO

Nick’s early career was as a performing musician, having studied piano at Chetham’s Music School Manchester and the Royal College of Music in London. He was a prizewinner in the first BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 1978.

He went on to hold senior arts management positions with South West Arts and Arts Council England. Until 2021 he was Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Wales.

Nick has held a number of non-executive roles including as a Governor of Cardiff Metropolitan University and as a member of the UK Government’s Advisory Panel for UK City of Culture 2025. He is currently on the national Committee of the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. He is also a Magistrate sitting in the Family Court.

Nick holds an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from City University London and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2022.

Melanne has spent virtually a lifetime involved in classical music, with extensive and proven experience encompassing performance, management, media and communications, charities and non-profits, and record production. 

A graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and Manhattan School of Music, as a professional oboist she has played with the New York Philharmonic and Manhattan Chamber Orchestra among other ensembles in the New York tri-state area, and performed under the batons of such conductors as Erich Leinsdorf, John Nelson, Gerard Schwarz and Leonard Slatkin.

 In the worlds of publicity, PR and international marketing, Melanne has implemented noteworthy media campaigns for such artists and organisations as Harry Bicket, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Van Cliburn, Leontyne Price and Michael Tilson Thomas. In the recording industry she has held senior positions at BMG Classics (home of the RCA Red Seal label) and Universal (Decca, Deutsche Gramophone), and in 2002 co-founded the leading independent classical label AVIE Records which has produced award-winning recordings by Julian Bream, Augustin Hadelich, Jake Heggie, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Anne Akiko Meyers, Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Consort, Nicholas Phan, Trevor Pinnock, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire, Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra, among others. 

Previously a board member of The English Concert in America, Melanne is currently a trustee of the English Symphony Orchestra.

Finn Heathfield is a Composer, Sound Designer, and Bassoonist currently studying composition at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Their work spans multiple disciplines including writing for theatre, orchestral and chamber music, multichannel electroacoustic music, and mixed media performances. Much of their recent composition has focused on interactive sound art installations that invite audiences in to partake in the compositional process. Their work is regularly performed at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

When not composing, Finn works as a freelance Bassoon and Contrabassoon player. They also work leading workshops and creative composition programmes with young musicians. Finn also works as a freelance Sound Designer and studio engineer for various theatrical projects and radio plays.

Finn works for the English Symphony Orchestra as Pastoral lead for their 3 youth orchestras. They lead a team of volunteers, parents, and staff to deliver ESO’s youth provision to over 300 young musicians a year across all skill levels. Finn also sits on the board of trustees of the Orchestra.

Marjory has been involved in amateur music-making since she was seven. She plays the violin and the viola de gamba, and attends regular playing sessions at the Elgar School of Music. She has played violin in both of Worcester’s amateur orchestras, and currently plays in Malvern String Orchestra. She has many years’ playing experience in other amateur orchestras, and plays folk music as well as classical. She sings in a local chamber choir, Severn Voices, and sang in the Festival Chorus in the 2024 and 2021 Three Choirs Festivals. 

Marjory had a successful career in the IT industry, first as a software developer and then as a technical author and manager, ending with a period of freelance editing and proof-reading. She moved to Worcester late in 2014. During the years that have elapsed since then, much of her focus has been on local politics. She has made a major contribution to the success of Worcester Green Party (from two city councillors to twelve) and sat on Worcester City Council for five years. During her final year she was joint leader of the council and helped the council to reset its approach to the development of the La Scala cinema and Corn Exchange buildings into a new arts venue. She was leader of the Green Group of councillors and represented the council on bodies ranging from the Worcester Arts Council to the University of Worcester. 

She is currently a trustee of the English Symphony Orchestra and the Elgar School of Music.

Jane Britton is the Pro Vice Chancellor for Communications, Culture and External Affairs at the University of Worcester.

She serves on the University’s Executive Board and chairs the UW Enterprises Board, which oversees the University’s commercial ventures. In her role, Jane provides strategic leadership across a wide range of areas, with particular responsibility for Student Recruitment, Strategic Marketing and Market Research, Corporate Communications, Alumni Relations, Development, Admissions, and International engagement.

Originally from Canada, Jane holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Calgary and a Master of Arts from the University of Birmingham. She maintains a strong personal interest in the arts, especially theatre, opera and classical music.