Staff

Thomas Leech

Diocesan Director of Music
NSSP Education Consultant

Thomas Leech carries overall responsibility for music in the Diocese of Leeds, has led the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme since 2012, and is also the education consultant for the National Schools Singing Programme. Educated at Cambridge University, where he held the Organ Scholarship at Downing College, Tom enjoys a reputation as an outstanding and inspirational choral director with a passion for education and widening access to musical opportunity. Within the Schools Singing Programme he works with a range of primary school groups and directs the Senior Boys and Girls Choirs of Leeds Cathedral. He is a council member of the Association of British Choral Directors and served as a governor for eight years at his children’s primary school.

Tom is the Musical Director of Bradford Festival Choral Society, and his numerous recording credits include the complete choral works of Duruflé and complete organ works of Arvo Pärt for Brilliant Classics. He has broadcast on BBC1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Classic FM and Radio France and has given solo recitals in many of the major UK venues, including Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and King’s College, Cambridge.

Callum Tempest

Music Programme Manager
NSSP Operations Consultant

Callum Tempest joined Leeds Cathedral Boys Choir at the age of ten and began organ lessons three years later. He was organ scholar at Leeds Cathedral during his time in sixth form, after which he went on to attain a first-class degree in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Bristol. As Music Programme Manager, Callum has responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the Schools Singing Programme and Keyboard Studies Programme and is Operations Consultant for the National Schools Singing Programme. He is also a trustee of the Aplastic Anaemia Trust and a director of the Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust.

Benjamin Saunders

NSSP Lead Consultant

Benjamin Saunders served as Director of Music for the Diocese of Leeds from 2002 until 2026, during which time he built the department into the UK’s most expansive church choral network. Building on this model, he also created the National Schools Singing Programme (NSSP) from the ground up, and he continues to drive its UK-wide expansion today in his ongoing role as Lead Consultant.

Daniel Rodriguez

Assistant Diocesan Director of Music

Daniel is a charismatic and passionate Colombian choral conductor and educator. Daniel graduated with a BA in Music and Choral Conducting and Order of Academic Merit from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogotá. Subsequently, he was awarded the College of Arts Master Scholarship to study an MA in Choral conducting with Simon Halsey CBE and Julian Wilkins at the University of Birmingham. Daniel was Conducting Scholar at the Crouch End Festival Chorus Mentoring Scheme under the tutelage of David Temple CBE and has developed his skills under internationally acclaimed choral conductors, including Anthony Trecek-King, Bob Chilcott, Daniel Hyde, Patrick Russill, Nicholas Chalmers and Simon Carrington. Before joining the Diocese of Leeds, Daniel was assistant conductor of the Children’s Cantoría of Colombia; Musical Director of the San Bartolomé Chorus, choral director at Batuta National Foundation and Director of Music at Immaculate Concepción of Chicó Church of Bogotá.

For three years, Daniel served as Choral Director in schools and churches across Bradford, conducting both the Bradford Girls’ Choir and the Bradford Junior Choir. Now Assistant Diocesan Director of Music, he leads singing at the Cathedral Choir School, Holy Rosary and St Anne’s Primary School in Chapeltown, and manages the Keyboard Studies Programme, which provides whole-class melodica sessions as well as individual lessons in piano, organ, and accordion. He combines this with his roles as Musical Director of the Knaresborough Choral Society and The Cube Choir Halifax, Fellow of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and regular appearances as guest conductor across Yorkshire.

Benjamin Newlove

Cathedral Organist

Benjamin is the Leeds Cathedral Organist, Artistic Director of the Leeds International Organ Festival and a keyboard tutor in the Diocese of Leeds Music Keyboard Studies programme, teaching both organ and piano.

Benjamin maintains a busy schedule as a harpsichordist, organist, and conductor. In addition to his performing career, he is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, specialising in the choral music of Tallis and Byrd.

A prizewinning master’s graduate of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, he previously studied at King’s College London, the Royal Academy of Music, and Chetham’s School of Music. Benjamin is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, the Royal School of Music, Trinity College London, and the Royal Society of Arts.

Louise Wayman

Administrator and Fundraiser

Louise Wayman grew up in Dorset and studied singing at Birmingham Conservatoire and the Wales International Academy of Voice. After a varied path through opera singing, administration, singing teaching and choral work, she has found her niche as the Administrator and Fundraiser for Diocese of Leeds Music, assisting in the day-to-day running of the programme and raising money to ensure its continuation. She now lives near Keighley with her husband and two daughters. Her spare time is filled by knitting, sewing, embroidery, cryptic crosswords and being a school governor and PTA vice-chair.

Charlotte Woodhead

Choral Director and Curriculum Lead

Charlotte first became involved with the Music Department when she joined the Cathedral Girls’ Choir at the age of 16, later becoming a Choral Scholar at Leeds and then at St Chad’s Cathedral and the Oratory in Birmingham. After graduating from the University of Birmingham with a First Class Honours degree in Music, Charlotte was appointed as Choral Director for Bradford in the Schools Singing Programme in 2012. She left the Music Department in 2014 to pursue a PGCE in Secondary Music at Leeds Trinity University, and then worked as a Teacher of Music and RE at St Bede’s and St Joseph’s Catholic College in Bradford, also completing her Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies (CCRS) in 2015, before rejoining the Music Department in 2017. In 2019 she completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy with the University of Wales and Voice Study Centre. She also served for 3 years as Vice-Chair of the joint Academy Council for Sacred Heart Hemsworth and St Joseph’s Moorthorpe Catholic Primary Schools.

Elizabeth Leather

Choral Director

Elizabeth Leather is a Choral Director working with the Schools Singing Programme in numerous Leeds schools, and conducts the Junior Boys, Junior Girls, Schools Scholars and Choral Scholars Choirs of Leeds Cathedral.

Educated at the University of Oxford, where she held a Choral Scholarship at Merton College, and the University of Birmingham, where she was awarded the Bramall Music Scholarship for her MA in Choral Conducting, Elizabeth is an ambitious and passionate music educator, inspiring children and young people to develop a love of music and learning through musical experience, and widening access to music education.

Alongside her roles at the Diocese of Leeds, Elizabeth is a school governor at Middleton St Mary’s CE (VC) Primary School, a founding member of the Cathedral Music Trust’s Future Leaders group and conductor of Leeds Vocal Movement. Conducting the Cathedral Choirs, Elizabeth has featured on BBC One’s Songs of Praise and BBC Radio 3.

Roland Mander

Choral Director

Roland graduated from the University of Huddersfield in 2014, where he specialised in piano performance and accompaniment, studying with Sally Anne Macleod. In 2016 Roland was awarded a Sing for Pleasure Young Conductors’ Scholarship, which has since led to a varied career as a choral director, workshop leader and accompanist.

He is passionate about the importance of music education and has previously enjoyed working with leading providers such as Musica Kirklees and Opera North Education. Roland’s first experience of choral singing was in his school choir and he is now delighted to provide similar life-changing opportunities to school children across the Diocese of Leeds.

Joseph Tilling

Choral Director

Joseph Tilling graduated from Leeds Conservatoire in 2023 with a first-class honours degree in Music, specialising in vocal performance and conducting. His passion for choral music started at the age of eight when he joined his local church choir, and, during his gap year, he held a Choral Scholarship at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and sang with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir.

Joseph discovered his passion for choral direction relatively recently, directing the University of Leeds Chamber Choir during his studies and has recently worked with the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain as a Conducting Scholar. He is delighted to be working as a Choral Director for the Diocese of Leeds and looks forward to inspiring children from all backgrounds to make music.

Amy Howe

Choral Director

Amy Howe studied Music at the University of Leeds, where she specialised in vocal performance, early music, and exploring connections in musicology and sociology. During her studies, Amy was a Choral Scholar at Leeds Cathedral and played an active role in Leeds University Union Music Society. She contributed by managing the Chamber Choir and later conducting the Symphonic Choir. 

On the violin and singing, Amy has performed with a variety of ensembles, including being part of the CBSO’s Youth Orchestra and Choirs whilst at school, where she initially discovered her love for choral singing. Amy’s ultimate goal is to encourage young singers to enjoy the choral scene as much as she does by providing a safe, nurturing and exciting environment in which they can thrive.

Adam Whitmore

Choral Director

Adam studied Russian and Spanish at Durham University, and while there, directed the university’s Chamber Choir. His time at Durham also marked the founding of his own freelance ensemble, the Phoenix Consort, which is about to release its second album with Convivium Records and has previously competed at international competitions. Alongside directing, his singing work has included working with ensembles like Durham Cathedral Choir as a choral scholar, early music ensemble Ottava Rima in Spain, Voces Tallinn Chamber Choir and the Seville Choral Society. He frequently sings as a soloist in recital and oratorio for choral societies and festivals.

Adam spent the last year working as a Graduate Assistant at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire and welcomes the new challenge joining the team at the Diocese of Leeds Music Department this September. He hopes to impart the same joy he feels for choral music to as many young people as possible.

Oliver Heath

Choral Director

Oliver Heath is a Northern Irish conductor, composer, and singer based in Yorkshire. He has held posts as Choral Director for the Diocese of Salford, Diocese of Manchester, and St Martin-in-the-Fields, directing a wide range of ensembles, from children’s and parish choirs to university chamber choirs, cathedral choirs, and choral scholars. He also directs his vocal ensemble, Oriana, which specialises in exploring British choral music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Alongside his conducting work, Oliver is an in-demand solo and ensemble singer, regularly performing with leading vocal ensembles including Chamber Choir Ireland, Sestina, and the BBC Daily Service Singers. As a soloist, he has appeared in recitals and oratorio performances across the North of England, and was recently featured in the Leeds Emerging Artist Festival.

Oliver has held emerging artist positions with The Sixteen, Chamber Choir Ireland, the Royal School of Church Music, and Sing for Pleasure, reflecting his commitment to artistic excellence and his growing reputation as an imaginative and versatile musician.

Anna Leskelä

Keyboard Studies Tutor

Anna Leskelä is a second-generation accordionist originally from Finland. Before moving to England, Anna studied Classical Accordion Music and Pedagogy at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences with Helka Kymäläinen. Prior to working in the Diocese of Leeds Music, Anna has worked in both primary and secondary education settings, as well as taught the accordion to students of all ages. She has performed in a number of charity concerts – as a conductor, in various ensembles and as a soloist – and is passionate about showing the versatility of the accordion to as many people as possible.

As a teacher Anna’s aim is to support all her students in finding their own way for self-expression, musical confidence and lifelong learning.

Katie Ryding

Keyboard Studies Tutor

Katie is a 4th year Music and Music Psychology Masters student from Manchester. She has played piano since she was 7, taking up singing as a second study shortly afterwards. This provided fantastic opportunities to perform in multiple European cities and the Royal Albert Hall. Before studying at Leeds, Katie was involved in a range of vocal activities, from Chapel choirs to Musical Theatre shows, even being nominated for a NODA award. While studying at Leeds, Katie has conducted LUUMS’ Chorus choir and been Assistant Musical Director for two musical theatre productions. This year, she conducts the Symphonic Choir and manages the university Chamber Choir.

Nina Leonard-Savićević

Piano Tutor

Nina attended St Petersburg’s Rimsky Korsakov Conservatoire and Wells Cathedral School as a scholarship student, before completing undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music. She won the Birmingham Music Festival and was a finalist at the Scottish International Youth Competition.

Nina regularly performs across the UK, most notably at the 1901 Arts Club in London, St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh and the Cheltenham Music Festival. Nina is also Artistic Director of the Topsham Music Festival which launched in 2023, aiming to benefit talented young musicians and the local community by providing performance opportunities, and is a mentor for the Young Sounds’ Furthering Talent scheme.

David Pipe

Organ Tutor

David Pipe read Music at Downing College, Cambridge as Organ Scholar, later studying organ at the Royal Academy of Music. He held roles at Southwark and Guildford Cathedrals and was Assistant Director of Music at York Minster before coming to Leeds in 2016 as Cathedral Organist and founding Director of the Keyboard Studies Programme.

David has appeared as organist and conductor on national television and radio, and has made numerous recordings as organ soloist, accompanist, and continuo player, and in 2018, was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. As Organist of Huddersfield Town Hall, he now combines his teaching with a career as a recitalist and conductor.

Dominic Rose

Cantor of Leeds Cathedral

Dominic Rose was born in Leeds and received his early musical education at the Yorkshire College of Music and Drama in Headingley. His love of singing was nurtured, whilst at Bradford Grammar School, by Barry Lancaster, then BGS Director of Music, Simon Lindley, then Master of the Music at Leeds Parish Church (now Leeds Minster), and the tenor James Griffett, founder of Pro Cantione Antiqua (who remained his singing teacher for many years). Whilst a postgraduate student at Cambridge, Dominic sang bass in the Choir of Trinity Hall, and performed as soloist with this choir in venues including Rheims Cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris, and Sacre Coeur.

Upon taking up his first teaching appointment in Leeds, Dominic joined the Choir of Leeds Parish Church as Bass Lay Clerk, and performed regularly as soloist with this Choir in venues including Leeds Town Hall, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, Westminster Cathedral, St Paul’s Cathedral and St Michael, Cornhill.

In January 2003, Dominic began an association with the Choir of Leeds Cathedral that has lasted to this present day. Under the direction of Benjamin Saunders, Dominic performed as soloist on the Choir’s first live broadcast of Choral Vespers on BBC Radio 3. In addition, he performed as Baritone soloist on the Choir’s recording of the Messe cum Jubilo by Maurice Durufle (conducted by Thomas Leech). Other highlights have included the Baritone solos in Faure’s Requiem (conducted by David Pipe), the Bass arias in Bach’s St John Passion (conducted by Christopher Johns) and the Bass solos in Mozart’s Requiem.

In addition to his choral work and full-time employment as an English teacher, Dominic has a wide repertoire that he performs as an independent soloist including the Duruflé Requiem, Haydn’s Maria Theresa Mass and Nelson Mass, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, and Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols.