Sophie Gilpin is a stage director working in both opera and theatre. She is Artistic Director of HeadFirst Productions and has directed productions for companies including Hampstead Garden Opera, Riverside Opera/Rose Theatre Kingston, Celebrate Voice, and Re:Sound Music Theatre/Oxford Lieder Festival, as well as working for Opera North, Opera up Close and Iford Arts.  

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Sophie is passionate about engendering more inclusive working practices where women in senior leadership positions are no longer the exception to the rule.

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Madeleine Pierard (soprano) was a Jette Parker Young Artist with The Royal Opera, where she has sung numerous roles and recitals. A native New Zealander, she studied at the RCM and the National Opera Studio, garnering numerous awards and now performs worldwide in a huge variety of roles. Recent Highlights include Lady Macbeth for ETO, Rufus Wainwright's 'Prima Donna' and performances of Britten's Rape of Lucretia with Muhai Tang in Tianjin.

Madeleine has always been passionate about championing accessibility for women and parents in this beloved industry.

Kitty Whately (mezzo soprano) trained at the RCM and GSMD. She was winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Award and the Royal Overseas League, and a BBC New Generation Artist. She performs regularly for the main opera companies and recital festivals in the UK and abroad. She has been a mother for her entire professional career, and feels that there are a great many opportunities for positive change within the opera industry.

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Kitty is keen to explore ways in which the opera world could be more inclusive of women, and accessible to people with dependants.

British Soprano Katy Crompton studied at the National Opera Studio, having previously graduated from the RCM where she was the Independent Opera Scholar and a Britten-Pears Scholar. She completed her undergraduate at the GSMD. Katy has since appeared at many opera houses throughout the U.K. and Europe. Highlights include Galatea for Opera de Rennes, Belinda for Opera Liège and First Lady for Garsington. Katy is hopeful that the operatic industry can be a place that working parents thrive, and she hopes to enable that through working with SWAP’ra. Katherine has also presented concerts for Radio 3 and lives with her husband, bass-baritone Edward Grint, in Bedfordshire with their two children and Ironman, the rabbit. 

Hannah Sandison studied at RCM and The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has since sung for companies such as ETO, Théâtre du Chatelet, Mid Wales Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. In concert, she has performed in the UK and internationally. Recently, Hannah commissioned  and produced Green Spaces: A Celebration in Song; in which she performed the world premiere of Of Nature’s Light by Mark-Anthony Turnage.

Hannah is completing a MSc in Performance Psychology and is mother to her three year old daughter.  Hannah is passionate about the mental well-being of performing artists with particular interest in supporting women and parents within the industry.

Soprano, Rebecca Bottone studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has performed internationally on opera and concert platforms. Highlights include Queen Tye in Akhnaten at ENO, Pelléas et Mélisande at the Hong Kong Arts Festival with WNO, the title role in Patience in the BBC proms conducted by Charles Mackerras, Joanna in Sweeney Todd at La Monnaie and the maid in Thomas Ades’ Powder her Face at The Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Becky is a mother of two and had been a passionate member of SWAP'ra since early 2019.

Ella Marchment is an award-winning director who has worked across Europe on over 120 productions with companies and houses including The Mariinsky, Wexford Festival, Buxton International Festival, Bury Court Opera, ROH, The International Opera Awards and Copenhagen Opera Festival. She has also founded and led four International opera and theatre organisations (Helios Collective, Constella OperaBallet, Theatre N16, and the Danish Arts Fest). Her recent directing credits include The Magic Flute in Copenhagen, and Madigan at The Danish Arts Fest.

Anna Patalong (soprano) studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and is laureate of the Francisco Vinas and Stanislaw Moniuszko competitions. She performs regularly in opera houses across the UK and Europe and is fast gaining a reputation across Europe for her "warm and smooth-toned soprano" (Telegraph). 

Anna initiated SWAP’ra in order to celebrate the achievements of women in our industry in 2018 and to discover creative ways in which areas may be improved for the future.

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Beth is a percussionist who works extensively in theatre and contemporary music. Her recent projects include Inala and Amadeus at The National Theatre, Othello at Shakespeare’s Globe and Common at The National Theatre.  She is a founding member of the all-female percussion group Beaten Track Ensemble.

As a workshop facilitator and educator, Beth has recently worked with the Wigmore Hall, LSO, ROH Bridge, LCO, Snape Maltings, BBC Proms Learning, London Music Masters and Creative Futures.