Toria Banks
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
Toria (she/her) is a writer, director and producer. She is also disabled. As well as leading on production she has directed live and digital projects for Hera including the shows 'Generation' and 'We Ask These Questions of Everybody', and written texts, with a special interest in verbatim work and translation. Before Hera, she was Resident Director at Trinity Laban for twelve years and led the Foundation Acting course at Arts Ed for five. She has worked for other opera companies including English Touring Opera, the Royal Opera House and formidAbility, and has also written three plays for rural touring.
Linda Hirst
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Linda (she/her) is a singer and singing teacher. An internationally-acclaimed mezzo soprano, she is especially known for performances of contemporary music, and has worked with composers including György Ligeti, Luciano Berio, Hans Werner Henze and Judith Weir. She was Head of Voice at Trinity Laban Conservatoire for 22 years, and is President of the Kathleen Ferrier Society. She has always worked across genre boundaries, recording with The Who, Nonclassical, Ivor Cutler, and others'. She continues to sing and has performed in live and digital Hera projects.
Simone Ibbett-Brown
CO-FOUNDER & ASSOCIATE ARTIST
Simone (she/her) is a mixed-race performer, theatre-maker, and administrator. She has sung BVs for artists including Benjamin Clementine; roles for BBC Four and in workshop for the Royal Opera; and is an Extra Chorister at English National Opera. She worked in administration for Cheek by Jowl and Paines Plough, where she led on accessible performances; and is a writer and director of opera, theatre and cabaret. She recently directed her first short film for English National Opera, and is a published playwright.
Find out more at simoneibbettbrown.com.
Everyone who's worked with us
COMPOSERS
Alexis Bacon
Amble Skuse
Bryony Purdue
Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian
Francesca Le Lohé
Frances Yonge
Jovana Backovic
Meg Bird
Sarah Taylor Ellis
Yaz Lancaster
WRITERS
Sabrina Mahfouz
DIRECTORS
Adele Thomas
Mathilde López
MUSIC DIRECTORS
Lana Bode
Rodney Bush
DESIGNERS
Laura Spark
Libby Welsh
Will Monks
WORKSHOP FACILITATORS
Francesca Le Lohé
Kimberley Turford
Rachel Vogler
Yarit Dor
SINGERS & ACTORS
Abiona Omonua
Akiko Kubota
Alys Mererid Roberts
Anna Dennis
Bryony Purdue
Carolyn Sampson
Donna Bateman
Emily Gray
Gweneth Ann Rand
LJ Parkinson
Maria Friedman
Neil Balfour
Juliette Koch
Lucinda Scott
Naomi Felix
Roberta Philip
Samantha Houston
Samuel Thomas
Sarah Minns
Sarah Parkin
Shakira Tsindos
Steph West
Tanisha Spring
Victoria Oruwari
Yolanda Grant-Thompson
PLAYERS
Akiko Kubota
Clarence Adoo
David Knotts
Dunedin Consort
João Menezes
Katarzyna Kowalik
Lana Bode
Midori Komachi
Olivia Fraser
Sonia Allori
Steph West
Yura Zaiki
PRODUCERS
Joe Strickland
TECHNOLOGISTS
Professor Alison Dobbins
Dylan Howells
STAGE MANAGERS & TECHNICIANS
Carter Crosby
Daniel Herbert
Leah Habarek
Sarah Sweet
PHOTOGRAPHERS & VIDEOGRAPHERS
Danny Burrows
Emma Wheeler
Juliette Koch
Nadine Persaud
Olivia Sofia Ferrara
Rebecca Hallett
ACCESS SUPPORT STAFF
Dina Rider
Eluned Charnley
Karen Pritchard
Sandra-Mae Lux
MARKETING DESIGNERS
Nat Henderson
DANCERS
Laura Cantliff
