Birmingham Contemporary Music Group has a driven board of trustees from all sectors. They are responsible for the governance of BCMG, strategy, and monitoring performance.

Acting Chair

Kenneth Baird 

Kenneth Baird has been associated with BCMG since 1990, when as Music Director of the Arts Council of Great Britain he gave the Group its first sustained public funding. He had previously been the senior executive at Aldeburgh, working closely on festival planning with Sir Peter Pears, Oliver Knussen, Murray Perahia and Mstislav Rostropovich.

A graduate of St Andrews University, he joined English National Opera after a post-graduate year at the Royal College of Music. He is the founding Chief Executive of the Liverpool-based European Opera Centre, and has served on a dozen boards in the cultural sector.

Deputy Chair

Tony Jackson

During Tony’s career as a Chartered Accountant tax specialist partner with PwC and other accountancy firms he advised many charities on their tax affairs.

He continues to play an active role with the Chartered Institute of Taxation providing his support and expertise as a moderator for the Advanced Diploma in International Tax examinations.

Tony has always been an enthusiastic supporter of the Arts in Birmingham and joined the board of BCMG in December 2018 with a particular focus on financial matters. Previously he has been a trustee of Ex Cathedra and Birmingham Opera Company and is currently a trustee of the John Feeney Charitable Trust.

Board

William Barry

After graduating in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge, Bill practised as a solicitor, specialising in commercial litigation. He became a tribunal judge in 1994, with a particular interest in Human Rights Act cases. He retired in 2016. He has always taken a keen interest in the arts, in particular music and theatre, and has been involved in theatre administration. As a performer, he has engaged with a wide range of music, in genres from classical lieder to Scandinavian Death Metal. He has recently taken part in a Country music tour, with a young singer/songwriter from Nashville. 

Jonathan Chamberlain

Jonathan has been Employment, Labour & Equality Partner at Gowling WLG UK since 1998. He studied Law at Cambridge University and has been an active board member of BCMG since 2014.

Jonathan Cochrane FRSA

Jonathan grew up in Birmingham inspired by Simon Rattle, the CBSO, and BCMG. He studied flute with Kevin Gowland and theatre with Philippe Gaulier, Lilo Baur and at Bretton Hall. He now leads the Council’s sports and culture service in Redditch and Bromsgrove and is a founding partner on Redditch’s new Creative People and Places programme. Jonathan currently vice-chairs the West Midlands Cultural Compact’s Network, sits on the board member of Motionhouse, and represents Selly Oak Constituency on Birmingham City Council’s Stronger Communities Panel overseeing legacy as part of Birmingham 2022. He previously sat on the boards of Audiences Central and Arts Development UK and chaired the national advisory group for Voluntary Arts England as well as Worcestershire’s Rural Touring Network “Shindig”.

Ruth Hopkins

Ruth studied Music and an Executive MBA at Oxford University. As founding director of K’antu Ensemble, she performs internationally, has broadcast on TV and Radio, and enjoys collaborations with dancers and actors for multimedia and site-specific historical performances for heritage events. She is passionate about increasing accessibility to classical music, exploring innovative approaches to concert curation during her residency at the BANFF Centre (Canada) and receiving the Live Music Now Fellowship for her work in special educational needs and disability settings. Most recently she has been Artistic Director for ‘All Roads Lead to Alexander’: Birmingham 2022 Festival’s 3-year disability outreach programme for the Commonwealth Games,  ‘Reimagining the Firs’ with the National Trust and ‘Music from Home’ for Transforming Narratives.

Sophia Johnson

Sophia is a Systems Support Engineer in the Civil Service, skilled in technologies such as JavaScript, Python, and AWS. This represents a new career path for her, as her previous roles were primarily in the Arts. From 2017 to 2018, she served as an Engagement Coordinator at a Music and Arts Development Agency, and from 2018 to 2021, she worked as a Diversity and Music Relationship Manager at The Arts Council England. Additionally, she is proficient in multiple instruments and has showcased her talent in singing and dancing across the Midlands - her passion for the arts is undeniable.

Nike Jonah

Nike works in strategic development across the cultural and creative industries worldwide. In July 2018, she launched Pan African Creative Exchange (PACE) in South Africa. In August 2020 the second edition, PACE Entangled, took place online. Between 2017 and 2020 she was a Visiting Research Fellow at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama which led into her current research topic of Pan-African Performance Networks. Between 2008 and 2012, she led Arts Council England’s Decibel Programme, designed to support African, Asian and Caribbean artists. Nike is a Trustee on Boards of The Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and The Royal Africa Society.

Gary Spruce

Gary has been a board member of BCMG since 2019. His particular focus is on supporting BCMG’s outreach and educational work. Gary is a graduate of the Universities of London and Birmingham and is an honorary member of Trinity College, London. He began his career as a secondary school music teacher in Birmingham,  moving in 1996  to develop and lead the Open University’s innovative teacher training course. He is now a visiting lecturer in music education at Birmingham City University. His is widely published on various aspects of music education including the links between social justice and music education. He is head of music at the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham.

Blair Winton

Blair is a partner and portfolio manager at Evelyn Partners. At Evelyn Partners Blair manages a team that is responsible for the ongoing management of approximately £1bn of invested assets for clients of the Birmingham office, including portfolios for trusts, charities, pensions, and private individuals. Blair is also a member of the Collectives Investment Group which is responsible for the oversight of the group’s security selection decisions. He is a CFA Charterholder and holds the CFA UK Certificate in ESG Investing and the CISI Masters in Wealth Management. After graduating from the University of Nottingham with a music degree in 2007 he began his career with Citigroup in New York before joining Deutsche Bank’s UK wealth management division in Birmingham. Blair has been a trustee since 2013.

Musician Representatives

Anthony Howe

Melinda Maxwell