Our Team

Alison manages our workforce development strand. She is also the part-time music projects manager at Tower Hamlets Arts & Music Education Service (THAMES) and a freelance creative producer working across the music, arts and education sectors. Previously Alison was the UK project manager for Make Music Day UK, the Executive Producer for Mahogany Opera Group and has worked with organisations including Making Music, Second Movement, Rosetta Life, Spitalfields Music, Royal Holloway University of London, Exaudi and Presteigne Festival. Alison is also a singer and currently sings with London-based vocal collective SOUND and is a trustee of the Lucille Graham Trust.

alison@sound-connections.org.uk

Banji is a 23 year old Multipotentialite creative from London with autism. Banji juggles roles as a rap artist, producer, content creator and semi pro football player. Born in Blythe, California and raised in Vienna, Austria, Banji moved to London in 2005 where he got diagnosed with Autism. Since 2019 he has been producing music, and started his journey as an independent artist in 2023, which was the same year he dropped his debut EP, supported by Wired4Music’s Generate fund.

intern@sound-connections.org.uk

Emily is a Programme Coordinator at Sound Connections. She leads on Sound Connections’ Innovate funding programme, Mentoring programme, and our Fundraising and Evaluation training sessions. As well as this, Emily coordinates the logistics of other Sound Connections events and supports the planning of various aspects of the programme, including consultancy, evaluation and Wired4Music projects. She is the first point of contact for general enquiries.

Emily is a music graduate and whilst at university researched music education. This gave her the opportunity to work in the community to observe and assist with music activity in schools and music hubs. Emily is a keen singer and regularly sings with a local alumni group of Southend Choirs. She believes music should be available to all and has a deep understanding of how the arts can benefit an individual, emotionally and physically.

Emily has recently become a Young Trustee at Daisi, an organisation based in Devon creating creative and cultural opportunities for children and young people.

emily@sound-connections.org.uk

Helen Evans is a Programme Coordinator at Sound Connections, and is responsible for coordinating projects for the consultancy programme. She works on a range of evaluation and research projects, with a particular focus on data collection, data analysis and research. She has recently worked on evaluation consultancy projects such as British Council World Voice, National Open Youth Orchestra programmes, Wigmore Hall Learning partner schools programme, and Live Music Now Inspire special schools programme.

helen@sound-connections.org.uk

Jasmine Padda is responsible for coordinating marketing and communications for all Sound Connections programmes and services, including Wired4Music.

Prior to joining Sound Connections, Jasmine gained Marketing and Design experience within the Music Education sector, specialising in graphic design and social media, in addition to spending some time assisting and leading music production workshops with young people. With a BA Hons in Design from Goldsmiths University, Jasmine developed multiple design projects surrounding accessibility and innovation within the music sector during her undergraduate studies, including topics such as ‘mothers in music’ and the reality of being an artist in the age of technology.

Jasmine is a practising independent artist, producer, and musician, and having been an active member of Wired4Music since 2019, Jasmine has participated in Generate amongst many other Wired opportunities. As a result, Jasmine has direct experience with and valuable insight into the programmes we provide and is committed to the cause of increasing access and opportunities to music and music education for all.

jasminep@sound-connections.org.uk

Liz manages our sector support strand and consultancy service, working with organisations across the UK and further afield to develop their work in areas such as participation, impact, inclusion, evaluation and strategy.

Alongside working at Sound Connections, Liz is currently Managing Director (maternity cover) for Drum Works – a community organisation rooted in East London, that uses drumming as a tool to empower young people and foster social cohesion. Previously, Liz was Head of Programmes at Music for Youth, and Projects Manager at Newham Music Hub.

liz@sound-connections.org.uk

Philip Flood has been at Sound Connections since 2010 and is responsible for the overall strategy and governance of the charity. Previously, he was Head of LSO Discovery and prior to this, Education Director for Spitalfields Music and Head of Music and Media at a large inner-London FE college. He is an advisor for the PRS for Music Foundation, sits on the boards of a number of Music Education Hubs, and a Non-Executive Director of PMLL, which is part of the MPA Group.

philip@sound-connections.org.uk

Shakira Alleyne is a writer and musician from London. Guided by an experimental ethos, her focus as an artist is to reconnect people with raw emotions and encourage critical questioning. Shakira has been involved in various grassroots projects including her Roundhouse residency and Brownswood’s talent initiative Future Bubblers. She has also worked with an array of prestigious brands such as Fred Perry, Universal and Vacheron Constantin. Making music has been a powerful outlet for Shakira over the years and this fuels her passion for creating exciting and inclusive musical opportunities for all.

shakira@sound-connections.org.uk

Tee Peters is the Wired4Music Programme Producer developing webinars and producing our events and opportunities. With a background in video production and marketing, he also makes his own music.

Recent singles ‘Seasons’ & ‘Numeracy’ premiered on BBC Introducing as Track of The Week and has since been featured on Spotify’s ‘Conscious’, ‘Dazed’ and ‘Free Form’ official playlists. To follow this up, Tee performed for the Mayor of London and has teamed up with brands such as O2, DICE, War Child, Nandos and Rough Trade.

wired@sound-connections.org.uk

Vanessa is an early years music practitioner, researcher and Creative Producer at Creative Futures. She works with children and adults in early years settings and teaches early years piano. She has an MA in Education (Early Childhood Music) from the Centre for Research in Early Childhood and a PGCE in Music from the Institute of Education.

Having started her career as a secondary school music teacher, she has subsequently worked as both a music and general teacher/practitioner in a number of primary schools and early years settings. She has also worked at schools in Spain where she led multi-arts projects with young children and as Education Assistant at the New London Orchestra, working on education and community projects.

vanessa@sound-connections.org.uk

Wizdom joined Sound Connections as the Deputy Director in 2023, and his role includes supporting the team and managing our programme strands, including our work with young people through Wired4Music as well as developing new partnerships across the music industry and music education landscape.

Wizdom is an experienced creative practitioner, who began his creative journey in the 90’s UK Rap group GreenJade, with whom he performed at the 2004 Athens Olympics, opened for JayZ, executive produced 10 albums and was the co-founder of the Gunz Down Schools Tour which produced a passion for youth work. Wizdom joined XLP in 2010 as their Arts Director, where he developed amazing talent including Lola Young. Wizdom was also part of the team that set up East London Arts & Media school and co-created the Big Music Project for the National Lottery, Global, UK Youth, and Universal.

After 7 years at XLP, Wizdom partnered with Tileyard to create Tileyard Impact and developed a carousel work experience programme for the creative industries. He also continued creating artist development programmes with the Princes Trust, Hospital Records and most recently, MOBO Unsung. Wizdom has been involved in writing the Media Broadcast & Production T-Level and has joined Sound Connections at an exciting time, as we work towards the roll-out of the New Plan for Music Education and developing Pathways Into The Creative industry.

wizdom@sound-connections.org.uk

Yasmine is a spoken word poet and playwright born and based in South-West London, passionate about sharing stories centring joy, lyricism, and nostalgia from a Black and working-class lens. She has performed at the Roundhouse and the Royal Court Theatre and an extract of her audio play ‘I used to know H.I.M’ was featured on BBC Radio London to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop. Yasmine initially worked with Sound Connections as part of the Workforce Development Programme in 2022 and is also a Wired4Music member.

yasmine@sound-connections.org.uk