MEET THE THETFORD VOICES TEAM
POLINA SOSNINA | DIRECTOR
Polina Sosnina took over from John Weeks as Director of Thetford Voices in 2022. Having worked for Thetford Voices as an accompanist and conductor since 2011, she has a longstanding commitment to choral pedagogy and musical access. Polina manages the musical programming and administration of Thetford Voices, and conducts the Christmas and Summer Workshops.
Alongside her work with Thetford Voices, Polina is Organist and Director of the Junior Choir at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Director of Music at Brasenose College, Oxford, and Director of the Junior Choir at St Luke's and Christ Church, Chelsea. In July 2022, she graduated with a distinction from the Royal College of Music, where she studied organ performance with David Graham and Andy Dewar. Polina is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists and graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she read Natural Sciences.
SARAH SKINNER | CONDUCTOR
Sarah joined the Thetford Voices team in 2014, conducting the Songs of Stage and Story summer workshop alongside John Weeks and Christopher Wray. She immediately became part of the Voices family, and has been in the leadership team for every Christmas and Summer Workshop since, including: More Songs of Stage and Story (2015), the Olympic themed Fun (fun, fun) and games (2016), Celebrate with Songs (2017), Magic & Mystery (2018), Strong Songs (2019), Upping the Beat (2021), Journeys' Ends (2022), A Melodic Menagerie (2023) and The Passing of the Year (2024). In 2020, Sarah led the summer workshop remotely, with participants joining in online from their own homes.
Sarah's extensive background in teaching music and drama enables her to work effectively with all age groups. She has run Thetford Voices sessions for under 5s as well as leading the main workshops for 6-16 year-olds.
ALEX BALLARD | ADMINISTRATOR
Alex began working for Thetford Voices in 2015 as part of the four-person team touring Masked, the fourth of our Music Theatre Projects, to primary schools in and around Thetford alongside John Weeks, Polina Sosnina and Mel Settle. He continued to be involved in the Christmas and Summer Workshops as a chaperone and group leader, before taking on the role of administrator in 2023. As well as ensuring the smooth-running of our workshops, Alex manages the database and funding applications.
A Geography graduate from St. John's College, Cambridge, Alex worked for several years as a GIS Analyst in disaster response at the British Red Cross, undertaking deployments to Indonesia, Mozambique and the Bahamas. After gaining a master's degree in Social Research Methods from LSE, he took on the role of Value for Money Analyst at the National Audit Office.