Meet the Team

Creative Director

A singing specialist and facilitator, Suzi enjoys finding creative ways to communicate complex ideas. As Creative Director of ENO Breathe, she is responsible for researching, devising and developing the overall scope and contents of this award-winning programme. Her role has enabled her to collaborate with respiratory specialists at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust as well as draw on ENO’s expertise regarding the intersection of breath, emotional connection and music. These fresh insights inform ENO Breathe’s holistic approach, where learning by stealth meets experiential engagement and lullabies, an integral part of the programme, are a soothing balm.

Suzi attended The Purcell School of Music followed by City of London School for Girls (where she held a joint scholarship between CLSG and Guildhall School of Music and Drama), before going on to study at the University of Manchester.  Her long association with ENO began in 2000 when she was a student on ‘The Knack’, Mary King’s prestigious performance course for young singers.

In addition to ENO, companies with whom Suzi regularly collaborates include Southbank Centre, Royal Opera House (joint artistic director of ROH Youth Company 2009 – 2017), Garsington Opera (currently Vocal Director of Garsington Opera Youth Company), Royal Academy of Music, Opera Holland Park, The Grange Festival and Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras.

Alongside her work in this field, Suzi is the director of Mondegreen Leadership Ltd, providing bespoke and immersive experiential workshops in a corporate training environment.  Clients include London Business School, HSBC, Unilever and The Academy of High Performance Teams.

Senior Session Leader

Lea is the Senior session leader working closely with Creative Director Suzi Zumpe to deliver and refine the ENO Breathe programme. He is a versatile singer and workshop leader with twenty years of experience of performing, directing choirs and leading vocal workshops across many genres of music. He aims to create a supportive & joyful musical environment; to connect with people; to help them discover their confidence and so unleash their musical potential

From a singing & wellbeing perspective, Lea has worked extensively with stroke survivors, spinal injuries patients, people living with dementia and other groups. He ran the Mind & Soul Choir, based at the Maudsley Hospital for 12 years and has worked with singers in a range of clinical and community mental health settings including at Rampton Secure Hospital, one of England’s three high-security psychiatric hospitals

As a performer, he has sung at the National Theatre & Shakespeare’s Globe, among others. As a workshop leader or as a music/vocal director, he has worked with many of the major arts organisations in the UK (ROH, Opera North, Southbank Centre, Glyndebourne, Garsington Opera, BBC etc), as well as many different projects for ENO over the years.

Session Leader

Jonathan Ainscough trained at Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music, and now works across all forms of music and theatre throughout the UK and beyond. He has created and delivered projects for the Royal Opera House, Welsh National Opera, Garsington Opera and Opera North, and works regularly with Streetwise Opera, using music and drama to help people experiencing homelessness bring about positive change in their lives. He is a Visiting Tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music and Manchester University, lecturing in participatory music and directing operas and other vocal projects.

Outside of his work as a facilitator and educator, Jonathan performs extensively as a singer, actor and multi-instrumentalist, most notably as a company member of the Olivier-Award-winning Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, with whom he performs regularly in the West End and on tour. He has a keen interest in new work, and has sung in original pieces of opera and other music theatre at Aldeburgh, the Oxford Lieder Festival, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the London Jazz Festival, among many others venues and institutions.

Jonathan is delighted to be joining the ENO Breathe team and becoming involved in this wonderful and vital work.

Session Leader

Rob is a classically trained singer and workshop leader. He studied at Exeter University, Manhattan School of Music in New York, the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival in the US and Britten Pears School at Snape Maltings. 

As a singer he has performed with many leading groups including the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Garsington Opera and The Opera Group in a range of repertoire from the Baroque to the Contemporary. 

Rob regularly leads workshops for Streetwise Opera, Grange Festival, The Mozartists and Britten Pears Arts and has performed in many community pieces for English National Opera, Garsington Opera and the Royal Opera House. Recent work includes collaborations with Trinity Laban, the World Wildlife Fund/Grange Festival and a Stockhausen Project at the South Bank Centre. 

Rob lives in Suffolk with 4 dogs, 17 goats, peacocks, chickens, bees and a tortoise that keep him on his toes. 

Session Leader

Born and raised in Birmingham, Abigail studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire graduating with a first class honours degree and continued her studies at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire of Scotland. Abigail facilitates workshops in conjunction with WNO (Birmingham Youth Opera), Birmingham Opera Company, ENO, English Touring Opera, Streetwise Opera and ROH (Opera Nation).

Whilst Abigail’s more traditional operatic roles include Pamina – The Magic Flute (OperaUpClose) and Susanna – The Marriage of Figaro (ETO), Abigail particularly enjoys performing operas written for children and SEND audiences including the award-winning Laika the Spacedog and Under the Little Red Moon an opera for babies both by Russell Hepplewhite and Tim Yealland.

Abigail enjoys highlighting the works of composers of African and Caribbean backgrounds and has performed in many operas by composer Shirley Thompson OBE including Sacred Mountain at the Tête-à-Tête festival and in Kingston, Jamaica. Abigail has relished the opportunities that have arisen in making the shift to online activities. Performances have included an operatic recital aimed for younger audiences for the Royal Albert Hall as part of their Royal Albert Home series; Shh! we have a plan, an operatic version of the children’s book by Chris Haughton with music by composer Noah Moseley (ETO) and a performance project titled UNSEEN commissioned by Streetwise Opera with music by John Barber in collaboration with Streetwise Opera performers from across the UK.

Abigail is a trustee on the Board of English Touring Opera and strives to promote inclusivity and diversity in opera.

Session Leader

Nicola Wydenbach is a graduate of the RCM where she was supported by a scholarship from Diva Opera. She has sung for Scottish Opera, the Monteverdi Choir, Philharmonia Voices and London Voices. She has a special relationship with ENO, having been a member of their extra chorus since 2008 and performed in productions including their award-winning Peter Grimes.

Alongside her performing career, Nicola is an experienced vocal coach and facilitator having worked for ROH, ENO, the BBC, Britten Pears Arts, Streetwise Opera and Mahogany Opera.

Nicola is a specialist in using singing in arts and health settings, working with people with Parkinson’s and mental health conditions. She is Director of training for Sing to Beat Parkinson’s (www.singtobeat.co.uk). She is interested in everyone as an artist and is currently co-creating an opera work for people with Parkinson’s as part of the collective Carve CoLab.(www.carvecolab.com). She is musical director of the Mind and Soul Community Choir (www. mindandsoulchoir.org) for all those affected by mental illness. For the choir she produced and directed Camberwell Gro(o)ve for World Mental Health Day.

Session Leader

American Mezzo Soprano, Christina Gill began her career singing opera and classical recital/oratorio rep. She sang the role of Carmen numerous times throughout England and the US. Other roles include Zandra (Jerry Springer The Opera), Charlotte (Werther), Margaret Garner (Margaret Garner), and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) amongst others.
Christina sings regularly with London Voices performing on the soundtracks of major films and video games. She is the associate director of Vox Holloway Community Choir which performs new music highlighting social injustice issues. She has a private voice studio and is very excited to be developing a charity which provides traditional salon performances of chamber music in benefit of professional and student musicians.

Group Coordinator

Jo is a freelance project manager and facilitator. She specialises in devising and delivering participatory arts programmes for children, young people and community groups. She was previously the Participation Manager at the Almeida Theatre in Islington and has held various project management positions within the National Theatre’s Learning Department.

As a facilitator she regularly runs workshops with school groups for the Primary Shakespeare Company and has previously led workshops on performance for the National Theatre and the Old Vic Theatre.

Group Coordinator

Laura Wyatt O’Keeffe is an Irish multi-award nominated facilitator, writer and theatre maker. Laura’s performance and participatory projects have toured to festivals and arts centres throughout the UK and Europe. Laura’s work explores gender politics, labels and rebels. She has facilitated workshops and arts programs at the Barbican, Chats Palace Arts Centre, University College of Cork and the National Theatre of Malta.  

Laura received a Masters in Performance from East 15 School of Acting, a Bachelor’s Degree in Drama and Theatre Studies with Sociology and English and a teaching diploma in Drama and Communication from University of West London. She also has a keen interest in wellbeing and has completed an Introduction to Counselling Course at City Lit.

Group Coordinator

Amy is a vocalist, singing tutor and researcher who is enthusiastic about the connection between music and wellbeing. As a group coordinator at ENO Breathe she is invested in cultivating safe, supportive and creative environments for groups and individuals. 

With a varied portfolio career, Amy has a background in community arts and events programming, including significant roles such as working as a project co-ordinator for The Irene Taylor Trust’s Music in Prisons programme, and as a programme co-ordinator for The Nest Collective. 

Amy trained in London to postgraduate level in Music, with a Masters (Distinction) from Goldsmiths University and a Bachelor’s in Music at City University London. During her undergraduate degree, her study was partnered with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she studied jazz vocals. She also specialises in folk music from the British Isles and Appalachia USA, with her creative practice and research closely linked. As a published researcher, Amy writes about female representation in folk song. She is currently the Cecil Sharp House Professional Folk Artist 2021. 

Group Coordinator

Vanessa is a performer and educator with over 15 years’ experience.  She currently teaches acting and acting through song at MPAA. In addition to this she has directed, taught and led workshops in many different colleges, and teaches privately. She sung for Music in Hospitals, led group coaching sessions for Life Clubs and founded and managed a vintage singing trio, The Marjorie Belles. She and colleague Kate Maravan have recently co-created and are running workshops exploring acting and singing, called Meisner in Song. She trained in acting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and in musical theatre at the Royal Academy of Music.

Group Coordinator

Caroline works as a freelance classical singer and has taught singing in London schools and for National Children’s Choir. With a strong commitment to community engagement work and facilitating access to the arts, Caroline has produced and managed a range of youth music and inter-generational music projects. Caroline worked at Blackheath Halls for six years managing the Youth Opera Company and Youth Choir. She also gained a wide range of arts administration experience working with disability-led arts organisation Epic Arts (in UK and Cambodia) and Philharmonia Orchestra. Caroline studied Music at University of Glasgow and completed a post-graduate diploma in Vocal Studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. 

Group Coordinator

Naomi is a freelance creative producer and community engagement specialist based in the North West of England. She enjoys working on projects which use the arts to improve people’s lives, often challenging assumptions about what art is, who it is for and why it is important.

Naomi has an undergraduate degree in Contemporary Art History from Manchester School of Art and an MA in Cities, Culture and Creativity from Liverpool John Moores University. She has worked for projects including the British Textile Biennial and National Festival of Making, as well as with a range of socially engaged organisations across the North West.