Jessica Parsons

Cello Teacher

Starting the 'cello just before her 8th birthday, Jessica was fortunate enough to have Melanie Cortese as her first 'cello teacher. After a little over 6 years under her wing Jessica, won a place at The Purcell School of Music in Hertfordshire and studied with Pal Banda and Michal Kaznowski. After graduating from Purcell, she continued on to Music College to study with Jennifer Curtis and Gillian Thoday at the Royal Northern College of Music. Afterwards she moved to Norway, where she studied with Kari Ravnan, Anne-Britt Sævig Årdal and Emery Cardas, and her Erasmus year in Sweden with Andreas Brantelid. Since graduating she has enjoyed freelancing as a performer and more recently as a teacher, teaching a broad range of ages and abilities.

Ella Beard

Violin and Clubs Teacher

Ella Beard (they/them) is a violist and community practitioner from Australia, currently based in London. With over a decade of experience in music education, you can expect lessons with Ella to be welcoming, tailored to each student's needs and goals, and designed to spark curiosity and joy in music-making.

Ella has taught viola and violin to young people aged 4-17, across a broad range of contexts including private tuition, school-based instrumental programs, and ensemble leadership. Their teaching philosophy is centred on nurturing curiosity, confidence, and creativity in young learners, strongly believing that a joyful, well-supported introduction to music lays the foundation for lifelong engagement.

Ella has also performed in a variety of solo, chamber, and orchestral music contexts, including most recently at the Royal Ballet and Opera House, SOLO x National Gallery, Bang on a Can's LOUD Weekend, with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra, and AYO's Momentum Ensemble.

In addition to their work as a performer, Ella is passionate about bringing creative opportunities to the wider community through their work as a teaching artist. Ella has worked extensively with Wigmore Hall in a variety of Learning and Participation events across all ages. They have also been invited to work on several projects around Australia including The Nest, A Room of One's Own Workshops, and Lullaby Project Australia. Ella has also tutored violin and viola at the South Australian State Music Camp.

Ella studied at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University and the Elder Conservatorium of Music, undertaking tuition with Stephen King, Michele Walsh, and Caroline Henbest.

Sara Hunter

Singing Teacher

Sara is a dynamic and passionate choir director, singing teacher, music educator, and community organiser with nearly two decades of experience inspiring individuals and communities through the power of music. With roots in dance and musical theatre, she began her career as an all-round performer before deepening her musical expertise and transitioning into private teaching and choir leadership.

Driven by a strong belief that music should be accessible to everyone, Sara teaches primarily by ear, creating an inclusive and empowering environment for people of all ages and backgrounds—particularly those who may not read sheet music. Her innovative and intuitive approach includes arranging popular, gospel, and musical theatre songs with careful consideration for the interests and developmental needs of each group or individual. As a performer with a dance background, she often incorporates movement and actions into rehearsals to aid memory and bring songs to life.

Sara has led a wide variety of choirs including primary school choirs, community groups, church and gospel ensembles, and mass choirs for special events. Her work is characterised by her unique blend of musical excellence and community engagement, as well as her deep commitment to building confidence and leadership in others. One of her greatest joys is nurturing hidden musical talent in children whose cultural contexts may not traditionally value the arts, and witnessing their transformation as they grow in confidence and pride. An entrepreneurial spirit, Sara often initiates new projects in response to community needs. One such project, Hoxton Singing Mums, emerged from her own experience of motherhood and the isolation it can bring. The choir provided a space where mums could sing, connect, and foster community while their children played nearby.

Her project Sing for a Change reflected her passion for social justice and her training as a community organiser. The choir brings together singers to perform songs about justice, peace, and love using music as a catalyst for positive change.

Sara's love for theatre and belief in its transformative power resonates deeply with her values of inclusivity, excellence, and creative daring. She is committed to ensuring that everyone feels a sense of belonging and has the opportunity to lead and grow through music.

Cyrus Lam

Flute and Piano Teacher

Cyrus Lam, born and bred in Hong Kong, started learning the flute under the tutelage of Ms. Carmen Ma at the age of six. Having aimed at becoming a professional flute performer from an early age, Cyrus is currently studying Classical Flute Performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, under Professors Ian Clarke and Sarah Newbold. In Diocesan Boys’ School, from where he graduated in 2021, he served as the chairman of the school’s Wind Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra. Acting as principal flute, the school orchestra toured Central Europe in 2019 and performed repertoires including Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Richard Strauss’ Don Juan in Prague, Budapest and Vienna. Being part of an orchestra and a woodwind quintet in high school grants him exposure to various repertoires of different classical music eras. Cyrus was also the former flute principal of the Hong Kong Youth Orchestra, and the former flute principal of the Hong Kong Youth Philharmonia, a fully student-led orchestra based in Hong Kong. 

Apart from ensemble-playing, Cyrus also refined his techniques in solo performance by setting examinations and competitions, both local and international, as his short-term goals. He received both ATCL and LTCL diplomas in Flute Performance with distinction. Cyrus also won the First Prize in the 8th Flute Festival Singapore in 2017, the Third Prize in the Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition in 2023, as well as the First Prize in the Young Artist Category of the British Flute Society Competitions in the same year.

Since studying in the UK, Cyrus has been actively engaging in festivals and summer courses. He has performed in masterclasses with Robert Winn, Kate Hill and Denis Bouriakov. Recently, he participated in the Venuto Opera Summer Course under a scholarship, performing operatic works by Mozart, Verdi and Mascagni in various towns in Venuto, Italy during the Arte Lirica Festival 2023.

Robert Pennel

Drum TEACHER

Rob is an experienced teacher, having taught drums for 15 years. He studied music at Trinity College of Music, London and then at Middlesex University; where he studied Jazz with Nikki Ilses, Stuart Hall and Martin France. As a freelance musician Rob has performed at festivals across Europe; such as the London Hyde Park Calling, the Electric Picnic Festival in Dublin, and the Seixial Jazz Festival in Portugal, most notably with Australian folk duo "Angus and Julia Stone''. He has experience recording drums in some London's top studios such as Rak and Angel studios and gigs regularly with a number of Professional bands across the UK. The Union Chapel, Ronnie Scotts, Pizza Express Dean Street, the Vortex and Cafe Oto are to name but a few of the London venues he has performed in.

Rob is passionate about teaching the Drums and as well as teaching for Pelican and has a successful private teaching practice across west London where he teaches at schools, students homes and online from his home studio. Rob's approach to learning the drums focuses heavily on getting students to read rhythms from musical notation straight away from their first lesson. He treats reading rhythms the same as learning your phonics as you would learning any other language. Children quickly remember what the basic rhythms sound like by singing them and carefully over time become fluent in singing the rhythms straight off the page. The great thing about this approach is you don't even need a pair of sticks to get started let alone a drum kit. He is experienced in teaching children who don't have access to drums at home and has gotten some of his students up to grade 1 standard who do not own a set. Rob also plays guitar, bass, and piano and will often accompany students in their lessons to give them a musical context and develop their musicianship skills further.

Tamsin Reed

Woodwind and Clubs TEACHER

Tamsin Reed began her musical journey playing the recorder aged 7, and quickly took up the flute thereafter. She immediately found her love for music, and competed for many years in the Wansbeck Music Festival where she achieved much success, where she was awarded a scholarship to the European Youth Summer Music school 2 years in a row. She was also a member of the National Children’s Orchestra in 2015.

Tamsin studied for 3 years at the Sage Gateshead Young Musicians Programme, achieving a distinction in her ARSM Diploma aged 15. Shortly after this she was awarded a place to study at Chetham’s School of Music for sixth form, taught by Fiona Fulton. During her time at Chetham’s she also worked with many world-renowned flautists in masterclasses, including Adam Walker and Andrea Olivia. 

Tamsin is currently studying towards her masters degree in Classical Flute at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, under the tutelage of Sarah Newbold, and is excited to pass on her passion for music to her students, as a teacher for Pelican Music.

Christian Miller

Guitar TEACHER

Christian started on classical guitar, but his interests quickly expanded to include rock, blues and eventually jazz. Now, he performs chiefly as a jazz guitarist in groups such as the Hot Club of Jupiter and Balagan Café Band, and his career has taken him from the stages of Ronnie Scott's and the Elgar Room to international jazz festivals. He has also performed in modern operas, big bands, rock bands, classical groups, and even Middle Eastern ensembles.

He would describe his early influences on the guitar as including Julian Bream, Django Reinhardt, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Green, Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery. These days he finds it much harder to choose!

He has been teaching guitar for over a decade including classical, modern electric, jazz and acoustic from students ranging from absolute beginner to postgraduate and syllabus ranging from ABRSM to Trinity Rockschool. He maintains an international teaching practice online, with students in the US, Hong Kong, India and elsewhere and his 'Jazz Guitar Scrapbook' YouTube channel has more than 6K subscribers.

Daniel Chappell

Piano TEACHER

Daniel Lee Chappell is a pianist and composer, who has worked across the UK, US, and Europe including at Mariinsky II Theatre, Cadogan Hall, St Petersburg Philharmonia Hall, Three Choirs Festival, and ENO Lillian Baylis House. He was mentored by acclaimed pianist Andrew Wilde through the sponsorship of the North West Arts Trust, before moving to London in 2015 to take up a Robert McFadzean Whyte scholarship at the Royal College of Music.

A passionate performer of contemporary music, and alumnus of the London Sinfonietta Academy, he has performed with ensembles including Asyla Ensemble, Melos Sinfonia and Illini Modern Ensemble, and worked as an accompanist and repetiteur with Opera Holland Park, Helios Collective, and Bloomsbury Opera.

Recent engagements have included performing the Schoenberg Piano Concerto at the Waterloo Festival, a residency with the Cohan Collective writing new music for dance, and talking about his work with interdisciplinary collective Spectra Ensemble at the Tate Modern.

He is also a teacher and animateur, and previously lectured on Creative Learning through the Arts at Reading University.