Meet our team
Patrons
Sir Terence Hardy "Terry" Waite KCMG CBE is an English humanitarian and author.
Terry was the Assistant for Anglican Communion Affairs for the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, in the 1980s. As an envoy for the Church of England, he travelled to Lebanon to try to secure the release of four hostages, including the journalist John McCarthy. He was himself kidnapped and held captive from 1987 to 1991.
Following his release, Terry became a prominent humanitarian. He co-founded Hostage International, supporting hostages and their families, and served as president of Emmaus UK, aiding the homeless. He is also a patron of several organizations, including Storybook Dads, which helps prisoners maintain family bonds through storytelling.
Terry has received numerous honours, including the Four Freedoms Award for the Freedom of Worship in 1992 and honorary degrees from institutions such as Durham University and Anglia Ruskin University. In 2023, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for services to charity and humanitarian work.
Charlie Courtenay became the 19th Earl of Devon in 2015 upon the death of his father, the late Hugh Courtenay. He is both a practising barrister and a California attorney.
He read theology and history of art at St John’s College, Cambridge and worked for some time in the art world before turning to law.
In 2004 Charlie moved to California and practised as a litigator at the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins, where he specialised in intellectual property litigation and cross border disputes. In January 2014, he and his young family returned to England and moved his practice to Latham & Watkin’s London office. Returning to England allowed Charlie, his wife AJ and their children Jocelyn & Jack to enjoy greater proximity to Powderham Castle, his family home in Devon. In 2015, the family moved from London and made Powderham their home and Charlie assumed management of the Castle and Estate.
Trustees
Anna Owen is a BBC journalist with more than 20 years experience as a producer and reporter in radio, TV and digital news. She believes in the power of media to change lives for the better, and recently spent two years on secondment from the BBC to His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) as Head of Radio and Music in Prisons. This was a wide ranging role that involved managing multiple partnerships, successfully lobbying for funding, creating opportunities in the media industry for prison leavers with media skills, raising awareness of the rehabilitative power of radio and music and advising HMPPS on media projects in prisons.
Separately, Anna has also worked as a press officer for the European Union’s election observation missions to Kenya and Nepal, and as an election observer for other international organisations in a variety of countries including Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Bosnia, Ghana and Mauritania. She is currently Head of BBC Collaborations for the BBC’s international charity, BBC Media Action.
For 30 years Michael Little led a group of scientists finding new ways to improve child well-being. In 2017, he left to establish Ratio. His primary interest is in contributing to an emerging relational social policy, and to fashioning new ways of linking evidence to policy and practice. As an intervention scientist, Michael has led research teams in the UK at Dartington Social Research Unit and in US at the University of Chicago. He has worked with international philanthropy - Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies- and governments in the UK, US, Ireland and Spain. He is author of a dozen books and over 200 other publications.
Michael participated in the staging of Carmen at Dartmoor Prison in 2017, and has joined the Prison Choir Project to find novel ways to learn about the impact of our work; on inmate performers, inmates looking on, staff and visitors coming to see each performance.
If you think you know how to capture the evidence, or fund this part of our work, get in touch.
Dan Scott is married and lives in Essex with Kathy and their three children. He spent five years in the army in the late nineties, his final year being spent working with disaffected teenagers in inner city London.
Dan spent the early 2000s undertaking an MBA in Cape Town, South Africa before getting involved in the healthcare industry. Dan has been providing debt and equity funding into the Sports industry, with particular focus on the football market and brings over 25 years of specialist finance experience to his role as Director of Avid Finance.
His depth of knowledge and commercial acumen make him a trusted partner for clients navigating time-sensitive or complex financial requirements. Dan says, “I am thrilled to be involved with the Prison Choir Charity and look forward to helping Adam deliver these exciting projects in any way I can.”
Dan spent the early 2000s undertaking an MBA in Cape Town, South Africa before getting involved in the healthcare industry. Dan has been providing debt and equity funding into the Sports industry, with particular focus on the football market and brings over 25 years of specialist finance experience to his role as Director of Avid Finance.
His depth of knowledge and commercial acumen make him a trusted partner for clients navigating time-sensitive or complex financial requirements. Dan says, “I am thrilled to be involved with the Prison Choir Charity and look forward to helping Adam deliver these exciting projects in any way I can.”
Robin Cooke-Hurle has had nearly 50 year’s experience as a professional manager, covering large companies, a software company which started in the cellar of his house and became the largest supplier of taxation software in the country, venture capital start ups and non for profit organisations. He is also Chairman of the Chole Mjini Trust Fund, a small charity supporting the community on Chole Island in Tanzania.
His interest in music stems from his wife, a professional international soprano until she retired. Robin hopes to contribute administrative skills to the PCP and also develop a strategy to offer participants in PCP productions continuing support after the performances.
Musical Director
Adam Green is a distinguished British baritone celebrated for his compelling operatic performances and his dedication to using music as a tool for social rehabilitation. Adam pursued his musical education at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar. He further honed his craft at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the National Opera Studio, establishing a solid foundation for his professional career.
Adam made his Royal Opera House debut in 2011 in James MacMillan’s Clemency and later performed as Ibn Rashid in Zaid Jabri’s Cities of Salt. His engagements include roles such as Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and Arbace in Idomeneo with English National Opera; Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Welsh National Opera; the title role in Don Giovanni at the Berbiguières Festival in France; Police Lieutenant in Tippett’s The Ice Break for Birmingham Opera Company; Steuermann in Tristan und Isolde at Longborough Festival; and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas for English National Opera, Opera North, Opéra de Lille, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival.
In 2016, Adam founded the Prison Choir Project, aiming to rehabilitate prisoners, ex-offenders, and individuals with mental illness through music, particularly opera and song. The initiative focuses on building self-esteem, encouraging personal development, and improving employable soft skills among participants. Inmates actively participate in performances, taking on roles, choreography, and even set design, fostering a sense of community and achievement.
Through his dual roles as a performer and social advocate, Adam exemplifies the transformative power of music in both artistic and rehabilitative contexts.
Adam made his Royal Opera House debut in 2011 in James MacMillan’s Clemency and later performed as Ibn Rashid in Zaid Jabri’s Cities of Salt. His engagements include roles such as Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and Arbace in Idomeneo with English National Opera; Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Welsh National Opera; the title role in Don Giovanni at the Berbiguières Festival in France; Police Lieutenant in Tippett’s The Ice Break for Birmingham Opera Company; Steuermann in Tristan und Isolde at Longborough Festival; and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas for English National Opera, Opera North, Opéra de Lille, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival.
In 2016, Adam founded the Prison Choir Project, aiming to rehabilitate prisoners, ex-offenders, and individuals with mental illness through music, particularly opera and song. The initiative focuses on building self-esteem, encouraging personal development, and improving employable soft skills among participants. Inmates actively participate in performances, taking on roles, choreography, and even set design, fostering a sense of community and achievement.
Through his dual roles as a performer and social advocate, Adam exemplifies the transformative power of music in both artistic and rehabilitative contexts.
Casts and Creatives
The Prison Choir Project is proud to collaborate with some of the UK's most talented musicians, singers, directors, and creative artists. From rappers and guitarists to opera singers, world-renowned consort groups such as the Kings Singers, string players, stage directors, pianists, violinists, and sound engineers, we believe in the power of artistic excellence to inspire change. By bringing this diverse creative talent into prisons, we not only raise awareness of our mission but also offer inmates a chance to engage in a deeply transformational environment—one that fosters growth, expression, and hope through the arts.
