Donna Barnes graduated from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) with a First-Class Honours degree in Performing Arts, specialising in Acting.

Performing under her professional stage name, Donna Steele, Donna enjoyed a successful career as a leading lady in musical theatre in London’s West End and on tour. Her selected theatre credits include the original workshop productions of We Will Rock You and Desperately Seeking Susan; joining the Broadway casts of Hair and The Full Monty for their UK productions; touring productions of Jolson and Shout!; and The Light Princess at the National Theatre.

Career highlights include understudying Ruthie Henshall in Peggy Sue Got Married, understudying Amanda Holden in Thoroughly Modern Millie, before taking over the title role herself in the West End and on the UK tour to critical acclaim.

Today, Donna is an experienced performing arts educator and workshop leader, specialising in musical theatre. Drawing on her extensive professional experience both on stage and in the rehearsal room, she brings a wealth of industry knowledge, creativity and practical insight to performers of all ages.

Stephen is a singer, conductor and schoolteacher with an extensive and varied musical career. He has sung with the choirs of Peterborough, Rochester and Canterbury cathedrals, performed as a soloist across concerts, recitals and opera, and worked as a freelance choral singer. His singing career has taken him across Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland, with appearances on BBC television, BBC Radio 3 and Radio 2, and numerous professional recordings.

Alongside performing, Stephen has held four Head of Music posts in schools, directed two choral societies, and founded his own professional choir, The Warham Consort, specialising in pre-Reformation polyphony and plainsong. He holds a master's degree specialising in performance and has recently completed a PhD researching early Tudor chapel choirs, having studied with Norman Tattersall, Andrew Field and Justin Lavender.

We're delighted to welcome Stephen as one of our specialist leaders for the Mozart Workshop Day.

William Campbell is currently Assistant Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral. He initially started the violin aged 3 and subsequently took up the piano and trumpet. He is a Licentiate of the Trinity College London and holds the DipABRSM diploma for performance on violin. He started organ lessons aged 14 as a music scholar at Wellington College and upon leaving school, William became the Organ Scholar at Guildford Cathedral. He graduated from the University of York with a first-class honours degree in Music in 2023; during this time, he held the posts of Director of Music at St. Helen’s Church in York and Interim Assistant Organist at Leeds Minster whilst deputising as an organist at all of Yorkshire’s Cathedrals. He then spent two terms as the Organ Scholar at Canterbury Cathedral before returning to Yorkshire as Organist at Leeds Cathedral and subsequently Sub-Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Bradford Cathedral. William is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, an examiner for the ABRSM and has appeared on BBC Radio and Television as a Violinist, Pianist, Harpsichordist and Organist – most recently on the Christmas Morning Eucharist live from Bradford Cathedral in 2025. An award-winning composer, William was the winner of the 3rd Blackburn Cathedral Competition and the Paul Cairns Memorial Competition, and his music has been published by Encore Publications.

Tansy Castledine is an award-winning conductor, educator and choral specialist, recognised as one of the UK's leading figures in choral music and music education.

She is currently Director of Music at Rugby School, where she leads one of the country's most ambitious school music programmes, directing a large team of professional musicians and overseeing its cathedral-style choral foundation.

Previously Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral, Tansy has worked with an exceptional range of choirs and vocal ensembles, from children and amateur singers to university, cathedral and professional ensembles. Her appointments have also included City University London Chamber Choir, St George's College, Weybridge, RSCM course choirs and major choral societies.

A prize-winning graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and the University of Oxford, Tansy holds the FRCO diploma and ARAM for services to choral music. She is a Trustee of both the Royal School of Church Music and Royal College of Organists, and a former President of the Music Teachers' Association.

Tansy has conducted throughout the UK, Europe, USA and Australia, with performances at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican and St Martin-in-the-Fields, and has broadcast on BBC radio and television, ITV and Channel 4.

Music has always played a big role in Becky's life. With both parents working as music teachers, she began piano lessons with her father and achieved Grade 8 at the age of ten. She studied at the Royal College of Music Junior Department for nine years, focusing on violin and composition, and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for two years, performing at the BBC Proms and recording Holst's The Planets. Becky worked as a school accompanist before going to Durham University, where she led both of the top orchestras and performed the first movement of Grieg's Piano Concerto, for which she was awarded the Full Palatinate shield for 'Best Individual Onstage'.

Following three and a half years as a Police Constable, Becky returned to music, joining the Royal Hospital School as 'Accompanist and Musician in Residence', a highlight of which was playing percussion for the school's production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Becky now works as a freelance musician and leads Lincoln Symphony Orchestra. Alongside her performing, she is an enthusiastic composer and has recently had a couple of works for symphony and string orchestra performed.

Oliver Hamilton-Box is a conductor, choir trainer and music educator based in Peterborough, and the founder and Artistic Director of Hamilton-Box Philharmonic Orchestra.

A former chorister at Peterborough Cathedral, Oliver studied Music at the University of Huddersfield, specialising in orchestral and choral conducting under Natalia Luis-Bassa. Since then, choral music has remained at the heart of his work, directing choirs and ensembles and working with singers of all ages and abilities.

Oliver created the Mozart Requiem Workshop as an opportunity to bring singers together for a day that goes beyond simply learning the notes. By drawing on the different expertise of an experienced team of musicians and performing arts specialists, the workshop will explore the many elements that come together to create a confident and engaging choral performance.

Oliver will host the day, bringing together the Workshop Leaders and guiding participants through the programme before the workshop culminates in an informal performance.