Centre Management Team

CURRICULUM MANAGER: FURTHER EDUCATION

Mark Cowell
BA(Hons)

Mark Cowell trained as a lighting cameraman and developed this into directing and writing for the high-end corporate video sector. After a spell as a freelance writer/director in Newcastle he joined a production company and facilities house in Edinburgh to promote non-linear editing in its early days.  Mark made links with a number of local FE colleges and through that started teaching video production in 1997, and with a two year break to work with an art cinema collective, has taught ever since from level One to Four.  His main areas of expertise are in programme making and technical production for video and film.

CURRICULUM MANAGER: HIGHER EDUCATION

Charles Hine
ARAM, DipRAM, LRAM, PGCE

Charles Hine is a prize-winning graduate of the Royal Academy of Music. He has achieved distinction as a solo and orchestral clarinetist and has undertaken numerous international tours as well as broadcasting regularly for the BBC on radio and television. Charles is a founder member of the Vega Wind Quintet, the first such group to be invited to appear at the Proms, and has also developed a career as a conductor of Wind Orchestras and other groups including the British Clarinet Ensemble. He has taught in a wide range of educational establishments including posts in Rome, the Cairo Conservatoire and the Royal College of Music as well as delivering masterclasses and workshops in conservatoires and colleges at home and abroad.

CURRICULUM MANAGER: OPERATIONS AND PROJECTS

Phil Toms
MSc, BA (Hons), ALCM, QTS

Phil Toms is an active musician in the area, specialising in double bass, piano and keyboards. His musical interests bridge the gap between classical, jazz, film music, music theatre and popular music. Phil has a strong background in music technology and, having spent the past ten years teaching in primary and secondary schools, he is currently lecturing on music in education and musical theatre. He is developing community outreach projects and keeps the mechanics of the centre running, such as the bookings diary, course timetables and facilities. In 2004 Phil was awarded the Leader of the Year Award for Outstanding Service to Youth by the Jack Petchey Foundation.  He enjoys spending time at Longleat House, near Bath, where he is often found at the piano.

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CURRICULUM MANAGER: FURTHER EDUCATION

Ben Treacher
MA, BA (Hons), ACA, Cert Ed

Ben Treacher trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama before achieving an MA with Distinction in Contemporary Theatre Practice at the University of Essex where he trained with Mike Alfreds, Max Stafford-Clarke, Sam Kogan and Bobby Baker. He has wide teaching experience in both Further and Higher Education at Colchester Institute. His principal areas of expertise are acting technique and performance and in particular Stanislavsky-based systems of acting.