The Trustees of the Dartington International Summer School Foundation are:

Lisa Tregale (chair), Steve Dummer, Gareth Keene (secretary), John Messenger, Leigh O'Hara, Matt Oomen (treasurer), Susan Sturrock & Beverley Vong

Lisa Tregale (Chair) is currently the Director of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales. Prior to her position in Cardiff, Lisa was Head of Participation for Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Founding Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the South West Music School and Director of Beaford Arts. Lisa first came to the Summer School as a trog in 1996 and from 1996 to 2004 she worked as Administrator and Executive Producer of the Summer School. 

Lisa has also held roles as Creative Director of the English Brass Academy, Chair of Foundations for Excellence, Trustee of the British Arts Festival Association, Vice-President of the Conference of Promoters of New Music and Trustee of Open Up Music. She is also a Trustee of The Aloud Charity, Cerebral Palsy Cymru and a Board Member of the Association of British Orchestras.

Steve Dummer is a conductor, clarinettist, educator and all-round enthusiast for participation in music making at every level. As a conductor he is musical director of Kidenza, a critically acclaimed professional orchestra giving concerts for children around the UK, musical director of Stane Street Sinfonietta, a professional orchestra based in Sussex, conductor of the Horsham Symphony Orchestra, musical director of Talkestra and director of the Wind Orchestra for European Youth Summer Music. As a clarinettist, he gives concerts throughout the UK and abroad and recently recorded a CD of the complete clarinet music by John Hawkins. He was a member of Juan Martin’s Flamenco Group, featuring on the much-admired CD ‘Musica Alhambra’, a founder member of the zany jazz band Itchy Feet, and now plays piano, clarinet, saxophone, melodica, rubber bread stick and composes and undertakes balloon modelling for the great Speakeasy Revival Orchestra. 

Steve first came to the Summer School as a student on the conducting course with Diego Masson in 1990 and has worked there every year since 1996, giving concerts and leading a variety of courses including wind band, orchestra, big band, the Tea Dance orchestra, wind chamber music, the clarinet class, an introduction to improvisation and conducting. 

Gareth Keene (secretary) has been involved with the summer school for over 50 years, originally as administrator (later a governor and vice-chair) of Dartington College of Arts and secretary of the Dartington Hall Trust. 

A barrister by profession, he was a lawyer for Glaxo (now GSK), director and international counsel of a Netherlands-based healthcare products group, and still acts as a legal consultant. An Ely chorister, St. John’s Cambridge choral scholar and long-term member of the Monteverdi Choir, he has performed and recorded extensively as a soloist and in ensembles at home and abroad. 

He was a non-executive director of Television South West, chairing its arts advisory board, and a founder of the South West Film & Television Archive. He served terms as chair of Beaford Arts and a trustee of IMS Prussia Cove. He currently chairs the Dartington North Devon Foundation, the EUCO Trust and Plymouth Symphony Orchestra and is a trustee director of the Dartington Hall Estate Pension Fund. 

John Messenger has been a regular participant, with his family, at the Summer School for over 20 years.

John is a telecommunications and IT specialist, working as Director of Global Standards Activities at ADVA Optical Networking. He has previously held positions as Director of Global Standards Activities at ADVA, System Design Consultant and Senior Product Manager for ADVA; Development Manager for Madge Networks, Senior Scientist at Proteon and Director of Clifton Advanced Technologies.

Leigh O’Hara first came to the Summer School as a trog in 1993. He has returned almost every year since, working as a conductor, office manager and accompanist and has served as a Trustee of the Summer School Foundation since 2014. 

Leigh is the Founding Headmaster of SPGS International School, Guangzhou. He has previously worked as Deputy Head, Director of Partnerships & Director of Music, for St Paul’s Girls’ School and Director of Music at James Allen’s Girls’ School. Alongside these positions Leigh has been an Examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and Conductor of various orchestras and opera groups around the UK.

Matt Oomen (Treasurer) is Global Head of Distribution at BNY Mellon Investment Management. His previous roles include International Head of Distribution & CEO of Investment Management EMEA at BNY Mellon, Managing Director and Head of Global Financial Institutions at BNY Mellon, Director of Client Service and Sales Strategy for BNY Mellon and Head of Busines Development, Zurich Insurance Plc.

Matt grew up in Dartington and went to school in Totnes at Keviccs. His mother was Registrar for the Summer School for many years through the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Matt was a trog at the Summer School for a number of years throughout this time.

Susan Sturrock has been a regular attendee and participant at Summer School for over 30 years. She is Director of Music Talks and Chair of the Hatfield House Music Festival. 

Sue has previously served as Director of the Woodhouse Centre and Director of Communications at the Royal College of Music and Artistic Director of the St Alban’s International Organ Festival. She has also worked as a freelance journalist, writing for The Times, The Scotsman, Music Teacher, Classical Music and BBC Radio’s 3 & 4.

Beverley Vong is an Artist Manager working for IMG Artists in London and New York. Prior to her role with IMG, Beverley held positions at St John’s Smith Square, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Monterverdi Choir and Orchestra. Beverley is a trustee of the vocal ensemble Siglo de Oro and an Ambassador of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. She previously attended the Summer School on a number of occasions, both as a student and as a volunteer.

The Chief Executive of the Dartington International Summer School Foundation is:

Richard Heason

Richard has been a regular attendee at the Summer School since 1991. He initially attended as a bursary student, subsequently returning as a trog, office manager, conductor, chorus master, and audience member. He was appointed as a trustee of the Summer School Foundation in 2014 and served as Chairman from 2017 to 2023.

Beyond the Summer School, Richard has worked as Director of St John’s Smith Square, Artistic and Executive Director of the London Festival of Baroque Music, Centre Manager of the Aylesbury Civic Centre, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Blackheath Halls, Director of the Westminster Schools Music Trust and Community & Education Officer of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He has served as Vice-President of the European Early Music Network and Treasurer of the British Arts Festivals Association and in 2018 was presented with the award of Concert Hall Manager of the Year by the Association of British Orchestras and the British Association of Concert Halls.

Our Charity Commission records can be found here.

Our Companies House records can be found here.