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London Development Officers
Take advantage of dedicated advice from two practising professional musicians.
Heather Tomala and Tom Hammond
Making Music, 2-4 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3NW
Phone: 020 7422 8280
Direct line: 020 7422 8294
E-mail: rdolondon@makingmusic.org.uk
Heather and Tom are available to advise members on all aspects of music-making and running a music group in London, as well as on how to help ensure your group evolves and lasts into the future.
They can help with:
- marketing
- recruitment
- fundraising
- artistic and programming issues
- brokering partnerships with other groups
Maintaining links with arts and music organisations, including Arts Development Officers, Heather and Tom are always looking to increase opportunities and benefits for Making Music members. They are in touch with an increasing range of relevant organisations, work hard to raise Making Music's presence in London, and can also help member groups put together funding applications and project proposals.
Resources available from Making Music London
Contact Heather or Tom to get your hands on these useful resources, updated on an ongoing basis!
- Recommended workshop leader listings
- vocal and instrumental workshop leaders
- a cappella workshop leaders
- Recommended design-related professional listings
- photographers
- print designers
- website designers
- Recommended recording engineers and companies
- Rehearsal and concert venues
- listing of inner and outer London venues
- detailed information regarding some venues
- Funding sources
- Database of funding sources – organisations, charities, trusts, etc
- Listing of funding directories to consult
- Advice on applying to Grants for the Arts scheme
- Arts Council England guide to sources of funding
- Full Circle Arts funding source list
- Marketing & Audience Development
- general recruitment advice
- data capture form / audience survey template
- Training & Development Guides
(PDF format)
- 1: Arts & disability / equal opps guide
- 2: Music group collaborations
- 3: Training Grant funded projects 2005
- 4: Training Grant funded projects 2006/7
- 5: Makeover Grant projects 2008 (in production)
Heather Tomala
Heather jobshares the London Development Officer role with Tom Hammond.
A professional piano-MD, keyboard player and vocal coach, Heather specialises in musical theatre and opera. She is frequently to be found playing in West End show pits, leading rehearsals at higher education colleges, and accompanying auditions. Her work encompasses jazz and big band, early music, opera, folk and contemporary.
Based in London since graduating from Birmingham University, and the Royal Academy of Music with a Master’s degree, Heather has served as workshop leader and coach for, among others, Mercury Musical Developments, Royal Academy of Music Musical Theatre Dept., Trinity College of Music Opera Dept., and National Youth Music Theatre, frequently dealing with new material by living composers and lyricists.
Heather is dedicated to making music accessible for young people and, as an animateur for Music Platform & English Pocket Opera Company, leads devising workshops with primary and secondary school children to compose and perform entirely new pieces of musical theatre, using classical operas as stimuli. She is also a regular musicianship tutor for Camden Music Service.
The founder and artistic director of period instrument Baroque ensemble Musica Viva, Heather leads a double career as a recorder soloist and has performed both with them and with orchestras in London and the South-East, as well as giving recitals all over the UK. In 2007 she travelled to Australia to perform with a modern string quartet, and as a trio with cello and organ.
From time to time Heather combines work and holiday by performing on board cruise ships. When at home in London, she is accompanist to several voluntary choirs in London and Surrey. Heather is also an extremely dedicated Irish dancer, training at least twice a week.
Tom Hammond
Tom's role as London Development Officer is part of a 4-day-a-week jobshare position with Heather Tomala.
Tom Hammond relishes conducting an interesting range of repertoire, and is as happy working in the operatic world as he is with symphonic /chamber music, or devising educational projects. He is Music Director of three voluntary orchestras, the Essex Symphony Orchestra, British Police Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Tamesa, as well as Artistic Director of the professional ensemble sound collective (www.soundcollective.co.uk). He was a prize winning semi-finalist at the prestigious Leeds Conductors Competition 2009.
In 2006 he was selected by Sir Charles Mackerras to become the first Junior Fellow in Conducting at Trinity College of Music, London. During this two-year post Tom conducted opera (including Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites), assisted visiting conductors, and worked with all of the college ensembles. He is now a regular guest conductor at Trinity.
Tom's musical career started as a professional trombonist, and after graduating from The Royal Academy of Music with a First in performance, he enjoyed ten years of successful freelance work with leading ensembles such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, King's Consort, Gabrieli Consort and Europa Galante. In 2005 he opted to concentrate on conducting as a full-time occupation.
With sound collective Tom has given several world and London premières, notably Matthew Taylor's Symphony No. 3, and conducted music by other noted contemporary composers including John McCabe, David Matthews, Robert Saxton, Paul Patterson, Elena Firsova, and Bernard Hughes.
Tom has also been asked to lead music education and outreach programmes for Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and the Historic Royal Palaces. He was Musical Director for the 2000/01 English National Opera's Baylis Programme production of Weill's Die Dreigroschenoper in London and Berlin, produced by the leading community art organisation 1st Framework.
