Creative Team

STEVE TILLER:  (Director) Steve trained as an actor at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and, worked for 15 years in that field. But he also soon began to direct, produce and write for the theatre. He set up The Wedding Collective in 1996 to commission and produce works of new writing often with the themes of social conflict, war and sexuality. The Wedding Collective brought The Vagina Monologues to the UK and produced the show with huge success for over six years including commercial runs of it in the West End. More recently, very successful productions of their shows Warcrime and The Daughter played in over 15 European cities, nearly always in site-specific locations in which the audience have typically been immersed in the action. These location have included the North Tower of the Tyne Bridge, an ex-nuclear bomber base in East Anglia, the crypt of a Wren Church in London, a disused silk mill in Bradford, an old ice storage plant in Paris and an amphitheatre in Thessalonika.

ANDREW CHARITY (Music Director). As well as being the Musical Director of The Shoreditch Consul, Andrew is the MD of Opera Up Close’s legendary LA BOHEME which has has run and run – at the Soho, King’s Head and Cock Tavern Theatres in London. On March 13th this year LA BOHEME beat the ENO, the Royal Opera House and the Young Vic to win the Olivier Awards 2011 “Best New Opera Production”. We are thrilled to have him as our Musical Director. An advocate of the Estill model of teaching vocal techniques, Andrew trained at theRoyal College of Music and, as well as being a conductor and musician of some note, has worked for many years as a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Guildhall, National Opera Studio, Netherlands Opera and Arts Ed.

NAVEEN ARLES (Community Music Director) studied piano under Richard Beauchamp and Murray McLachlan at St Mary’s Music School and though a pianist, piano teacher, MD, choirmaster and performer, he has also found time to take degrees in Biological Sciences and Event and Arts Management. Naveen, although only in his early 30’s, currently runs – as a member of staff – two choirs at London Metropolitan University – the most diverse and arguably the most ‘inclusive’, in terms of social and ethnic profile in the UK. This includes ChoirLite. He also runs the London Youth Gospel Choir and The Holborn Community Association Choir with over 55’s. He has worked a number of times in India – with the United Theological College & Naga Choirs, Bangalore and the St Joseph’s College Choir, Bangalore which he lead to a Silver Medal in the Bangalore ICC competition.  His choirs have performed at The Barbican, The Royal Albert Hall, St James Piccadilly, Lord’s Cricket Ground and for the BBC’s Last Choir Standing. He was recently MD on The Magdalene Mysteries (4 stars Fringe Review & Time Out), Co-MD’d Lakme in Edinburgh (5 stars, The Scotsman) and was Assist MD on Oh, What A Lovely War 2000 (Edinburgh Fringe Festival).

(Assistant Music Director). Greek-born repetiteur and vocal coach Michalis Angelakis trained at the National  Opera Studio and holds a postgraduate degree in piano accompaniment awarded from Trinity College of Music, London. Recent engagements include Puccini’s La Boheme (both the Olivier-awarded production of Opera Up Close and the 2010 British Youth Opera season ), Cimarosa’s L’Italiana in Londra (Bampton Opera) and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Kentish Opera). He is also the repetiteur of the newly-formed Thurrock Community Chorus (Royal Opera House Education). At Morley College Michalis coaches and accompanies both students of the Opera School and the Access to Higher Education programme and teaches the piano.