Our People

MORABE is led by a dedicated leadership team, supported by an experienced Board of Trustees, an Advisory Panel of senior sector leaders, and a skilled teaching and delivery team.

Core Team

  • Marie is a South Africa–born violinist and music educator. She completed her Master’s degree in Music in Cape Town before moving to the UK in 2006. She went on to work as Artist Development Manager for the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme at Snape Maltings, where she led instrumental programmes and curated major projects including the Aldeburgh World Orchestra for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and the Britten-Pears Orchestra for Peter Grimes on Aldeburgh Beach as part of the Britten Centenary celebrations in 2013.

    Marie is a passionate educator with specialist training in child-centred music education. She has trained with the British Kodály Academy and is accredited by the Paul Rolland Society and the British Suzuki Association. Her teaching and mentoring experience includes work with Sistema Scotland, Sistema Norwich, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (Junior String Training Programme), and the Youth Orchestras of the Americas Global Leadership Programme.

    Her deep commitment to childhood development, community, and equitable access to the arts led her to found MORABE Rural Music, creating sustained, high-quality music opportunities for children and communities in rural Suffolk.

  • Caroline is MORABE Rural Music’s Operations and Community Lead. Originally from the North West, she moved to rural Suffolk in 2010 and has spent the past decade building and managing businesses in entrepreneurial environments. She is the Director of CraftPatch Ltd, which she has grown and managed alongside raising her two children. Alongside her work with MORABE, Caroline has chaired her local primary school PTA and volunteered within the parish, driven by a belief in schools and community spaces as vital anchors for connection, opportunity and wellbeing in rural areas.

    Caroline provides operational support to MORABE, enabling the consistent delivery of its schools and community programmes and acting as a vital link between the charity and the communities it serves. Her role has grown from direct engagement as a MORABE parent, after seeing first-hand the impact the programme had on her child, and is informed by lived experience of raising a family in a rural village. Her role reflects MORABE’s commitment to developing people from within the communities it serves, and to building a sustainable, community-rooted workforce over time.

  • Lee is MORABE Rural Music’s Finance Volunteer. He brings over 25 years’ experience across a wide range of finance roles, including senior management accounting and systems positions at Amey, NCO Europe, and VolkerWessels UK. He is a qualified and certified Xero Advisor (accounting and payroll), with particular expertise in financial systems implementation, reporting, forecasting and process improvement.

    Lee has led and supported multiple finance system migrations and developments, delivering user training and post-implementation support, and bringing clarity and structure to complex financial environments. His experience spans both large commercial organisations and small businesses, giving him a practical and adaptable approach to financial management.

    At MORABE, Lee supports the development of clear, robust financial systems and reporting, playing a key role in shaping good governance and financial practice as the organisation grows. His contribution helps ensure transparency, accountability and sound financial oversight underpin MORABE’s ongoing development.

Patron

Penny Jonas - MORABE’s Patron and one of the organisation’s earliest champions.

Board of Trustees

Adrian Melrose - Chair
Roland Seregi - Treasurer
Lucie Fairweather - Trustee & Designated Safeguarding Lead
Richard Hanley - Trustee

Advisory Panel

MORABE is supported by an informal Advisory Panel of senior voices from across the music, education, health and cultural sectors who offer strategic insight as the organisation grows.

Andrew Comben - Chief Executive, Britten Pears Arts
Natalie Ellis - Head of Arts, Cambridge University Hospitals
Sarah Gee - Chief Executive and Artistic Director, Spitalfields Music
Abi Marrison - Schools Manager, Music Mark
David Munn - Director of Music and Curriculum, Sistema Scotland
Vitoria Robey - Founder, Music Masters
Sarah Zins - Deputy Chair, Britten Pears Arts

Teaching & Delivery Team

MORABE’s teaching and delivery team brings together specialist musicians and educators working across our Schools and Community Pathways.

Schools Pathway

Strings and Ensemble
Maria Dobing - Upper Strings
Beth Spendlove - Upper Strings
Phoebe Fullbrook - Upper Strings
Christopher Slatter - Lower Strings
Katy Smith - Lower Strings

Musicianship and Choir
Stephanie Wakeman - Musicianship and Choir
Katy Smith - Musicianship
Phoebe Fullbrook - Musicianship

Community Pathway

Caroline Henderson Holmes -Community Lead

Mini Music
Charly Jolly - Early Years Lead
Charlie Law - Early Years
Keir Vine - Early Years
Katy Smith - Early Years

Community Choir and MORABE Singing Mamas
Stephanie Wakeman - Vocal Lead and Singing Mamas (trainee)
Hayley Glennie - Singing Mamas Lead

Safeguarding

MORABE is committed to the highest standards of safeguarding and child protection. All staff and volunteers working with children are DBS checked and our safeguarding practice is overseen by the organisation’s Designated Safeguarding Lead and Board of Trustees.


Our Partners & Supporters

MORABE works through long-term partnerships with schools, local authorities and cultural organisations who share our vision. Together, we are building a joined-up, community-rooted cultural offer that nurtures talent, confidence, creativity and wellbeing from the earliest years through to young adulthood.

We are proud to be a Lead Partner Organisation for the Norfolk and Suffolk Music Hub.

Partner schools:

Eyke CE Primary School • Orford CE Primary School • Melton Primary School

Impact & Evaluation Partner

Orchestras Live

Creative Partners:

Britten Pears Arts • Suffolk Artlink • Magic Acorns • Wooden Roots• Pomegranate Creative Therapies •  Singing Mamas • Suffolk County Music Service

Local Authorities & Strategic Partners:

East Suffolk Council • Suffolk County Council • Norfolk & Suffolk Music Hub