15/06/21
New Trustee Announcement
We are delighted to announce that Ava Podgorski and Katie Bradford have joined our Board of Trustees
Everyone at Mahogany is thrilled to be welcoming Ava and Katie to join the board. They bring with them an array of skills and experience and a passion for inclusive, boundary stretching opera that will be a huge asset to Mahogany now and into the future. We have increased the number of trustees in this calendar year from four to eight. The entire process has been deeply enriching for the organisation and, we believe, will stand us in good stead for the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Penny Jonas, Frederic Wake-Walker and the trustees of Mahogany Opera
I am thrilled to be appointed to the Board of Trustees for Mahogany Opera Group. Having been involved with the Young Trustees Movement as an aspiring trustee I was honoured to be considered by the Mahogany team for this position. As a young, northern woman who grew up in a rural community with very little awareness of opera, I wholeheartedly want to ensure opera, and other diverse cultural experiences, are available for people across the UK, no matter their postcode. Mahogany is making great strides in ensuring the future of opera is diverse and inclusive, and I am excited to help in their mission to stretch the boundaries of what opera can be and who it is for.
Ava Podgorski
I’m excited to join the board of Mahogany Opera. At a time when the performance arts are under threat after the desolation of the pandemic, whilst sorely needed to support the wellbeing of the country, it’s thrilling to see how Mahogany Opera has reached new audiences, online and in live performance. The company’s Snappy Operas are a model of inclusivity, sparking joy in opera in schoolchildren across the UK. Mahogany Opera stretches the boundaries of opera, and invites everyone to take part. I look forward to supporting the company with its bold ambitions.
Katie Bradford
Ava Podgorski developed a love for music, especially singing, and theatre from an early age. Upon seeing her first opera (Britten’s The Turn of the Screw) while at 6th form, she quickly fell for the dynamic artform, and went on to study Music to Postgraduate level at the University of Manchester, with opera at the centre of her music inquiry. With diverse professional experience in the arts, charity and education sectors, Ava is passionate about making opera accessible for all and champions operatic innovation through radical adaptation and new works.
Katie Bradford was introduced to classical music at her state schools, where she discovered her lifelong love of choral singing and learnt to play the recorder and the double bass. Her first experience of opera was at University College, London, where she studied law and sang in the chorus of their annual opera productions. She was a litigation solicitor in the City of London, for 40 years and newly retired, can now indulge her passion for the performance arts in the audience, and use her skills as a Trustee of Mahogany Opera.
Mahogany Opera is committed to collaborative and inclusive ways of working. We know opera can be, and is widely perceived as, a form of culture that upholds systemic injustices rather than challenging them. It does not have to be that way. We endeavour to create work that is open and welcoming to everyone who wants to participate. If you are interested in hearing more about our work and how to get involved please contact ally@mahoganyopera.co.uk - we'd love to hear from you.
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