Our Teachers

T: 07951 723 603

Audrey Fitchett

(Assistant Director)
Piano,Theory

Audrey joined Scales Music in 2013 and was appointed Assistant Director of the School in 2018. Audrey spent 4 years dividing her time between teaching and helping Antoinette with the daily running of the School. In 2022 she embarked on a post-graduate degree at the Royal College of Music and teaches alongside her studies.

Audrey was born in Bonn and comes from an international family. She is a native French and English speaker, and grew up living in several countries around the world.

Audrey began learning the piano at the age of 3, and was awarded her Performance Diploma while still at school. Audrey studied Music at the University of Manchester, with equal emphasis on Performance and Dissertation, completing her final year ethnomusicological research in the field of Maronite Music in Diaspora. Audrey has performed widely in numerous recitals, competitions, concertos, festivals and choral concerts in venues including the Bridgewater Hall, St John’s Smith Square and Royal Festival Hall among others.

At university, Audrey also played an active part in the Manchester Students’ Dance Society, heading the Society as President and competing in the Manchester Inter-Varsity Dancesport Team for four years. Audrey also underwent rigorous training as a ballet dancer and qualified as a ballet teacher with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. Audrey is the Music Director for the Jesuit Young Adult Ministries’ choir at Farm Street Church, conducting the SATB choir and leading music at Masses and at various services and concerts throughout the year.

Audrey is passionate about teaching, and strives to inspire her students in all areas to become well-rounded, expressive and confident musicians. She believes that the skills gained through music, and the benefits on children and adults alike, have a tremendous impact in all aspects of life.

Antoinette Scales

(Director)
Piano,Singing,Theory

Antoinette Scales, born in Bedfordshire, attended Harlington School before going to Emmanuel College, Cambridge University to study Music, and later Management (being one of the first year of students at the Judge Institute of Management), and to take up a Choral Scholarship.

Antoinette sang for a number of recordings, concerts, festivals and competitions during her time at Cambridge, performing at The Proms, The Barbican, Westminster Abbey, Cadogan Hall as well as in Cambridge and representing the University and the UK abroad.

During her time at school and University Antoinette formed a close relationship with the Royal Ballet Music Department at the Royal Opera House. After graduation, Antoinette worked for 7 years in Corporate Marketing, working for Procter & Gamble, L’Oreal, Chanel and other companies before setting up her own business in Arts Publicity and Marketing working primarily for the Royal Opera House, Raymond Gubbay and English National Ballet. During these years she was teaching privately and that was always a great passion.

In 2002 she went about setting up a Private Music School to provide fun, fulfilling, well organised, structured and productive lessons – and Scales Music was born! Antoinette sings professionally with a number of Choirs and plays the piano, viola and more recently, the harp.

Antoinette is an alumni mentor for the Cambridge Judge Institute of Management (JIMS), mentoring students on the MBA program, as part of the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre (WLC), and has recently been awarded a Fellowship of the Incorporated Society of Musicians for her long service to the Institution. Antoinette is married with 2 young children and enjoys being a mummy when she isn’t working!

Tomas Parada

Percussion

Tomás Parada was born and raised in Mira, Portugal where he started to play drums at the age of 8.

At the age of 16, he began to play professionally with local bands whilst studying with Hugo Danin in Porto, later moving to London to study at the renowned and prestigious British and Irish Modern Music Institute.

Whilst doing his degree in Popular Music Performance, Tomás had the chance of integrating the house band for Pete Smith's BIMM studio sessions, recording at legendary studios such as Eastcote and Kensal Town Studios, and worked with many musicians playing Jazz, R&B and Brazilian music.

Tomás finished his degree, gaining a First-Class Honours and is now works as a drummer and drum teacher in London.

Dorothy Whyte-Venables

Piano,Singing,Strings

Dorothy is a passionate and accomplished music educator and professional operatic soprano. She was educated in Hampshire, learning piano and viola and later taking up vocal studies. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, having undertaken her BMus (Hons) at Royal Holloway, University of London, Dorothy brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to both her teaching and performance careers.

With expertise in multiple instruments and a rich musical background, Dorothy is dedicated to fostering a love for music in students of all ages. Her nurturing and encouraging approach makes her a beloved practitioner and educator, helping individuals to discover and develop their musical talents in a supportive environment. Dorothy has experience as a college mentor and as a coach at Summer Music School courses and also as a teaching assistant in primary school.

As a professional soprano, Dorothy has been fortunate enough to have performed on the stages of many prestigious venues and has been featured on numerous CDs and radio broadcasts.

Whether in the classroom or on stage, Dorothy is committed to sharing her passion for music, inspiring others, and continuing to grow as an artist and educator.

When not enjoying music Dorothy is a keen equestrian, having competed and won in National Dressage Championships, and also enjoys playing Polo.

Rory Mann

(Guitar/Bass)
Guitar

Rory Mann is an accomplished guitarist, composer and educator from Yorkshire, now based in London. He has made a name for himself around the UK playing in a number of different settings, bands and projects. His debut EP ‘The Way Out’ was recorded in Leeds and released in December 2022, and his debut album as bandleader and composer is scheduled for release in Spring 2026.

Rory has quickly gained a reputation as one of the most original sounding and technically proficient young guitarists in the UK. Rory graduated with first class honours from Leeds College of Music’s jazz programme in 2019. In 2022, Rory was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London on the Jazz Postgraduate programme and graduated with Distinction in 2024. There he studied under the pupillage of many high profile UK jazz musicians. He holds the Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music; a licence to teach music in the context of a principal-study discipline.

Rory currently works as a freelance guitarist, composer and educator, working in a variety of settings including jazz, pop and musical theatre. Throughout his career so far, he has performed alongside jazz artists such as Kit Downes, Gareth Lockrane, Nathaniel Facey, Josephine Davies, Mark Lockheart, Baptiste Herbin, Julian Arguelles and Steve Fishwick. He also performs alongside artists such as Shan and the Shine and Bethannie Hare, and touring artists including Liza Pulman and the London Bollywood Orchestra. Theatre credits include Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Sister Act, Fame, Footloose, Little Shop of Horrors, 9 to 5, Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde, Chess, Spring Awakening and many more.

Outside of music, Rory is a keen runner, is involved in local politics and is an avid Leeds United fan.

Izabela Stefanska

Piano,Strings

Izabela Stefanska is a graduate from the Royal College of Music where she was a grateful recipient of the Audrey Piggott Award and the ABRSM Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Award. She was an RCM nominee for the English National Opera’s Evolve Scheme in 2022, and has appeared with ENO in many recent performances. She has also performed with the London Symphony Orchestra and taken part in sit-in sessions with the Philharmonia Orchestra and members of Chamber Orchestra of Europe. She successfully auditioned for the Sinfonia Smith Square fellowship in 2024.

Iza is also a founding member of the Morassi Quartet, which has featured in the "Muzyka u Zrodel’’ Festival in Bydgoszcz, Poland and the Lake District Summer Music Festival in 2023. They have also given recitals in venues across the United Kingdom, including the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall.

In addition to her performance career, Iza is deeply committed to music education. She is a tutor with the Music in Secondary Schools Trust and has been involved in Royal Opera House family workshops and ‘Everybody Sing’ performances, and ‘Finish This’ - English National Opera’s music making programme for schools.

In her spare time, she works as a dog walker and enjoys reading books.

Imogen Edwards

Piano

Imogen began her musical journey in her hometown in Swansea, achieving her Grade 8 in Piano, Flute, Harp, and Cello during secondary school, before narrowing her studies to the piano at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, where she was awarded her LRSM performance diploma with distinction. Imogen has been performing and competing in national competitions across Wales and England as a soloist, accompanist, chamber and orchestral musician throughout her musical career and continues to develop her performance portfolio during her studies in London at the Royal College of Music.

During her studies at the RCM, Imogen has developed a long standing passion for French piano music, which shaped her artistic voice and performance style, leading her to spend a year studying abroad at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon (CNSMD Lyon), immersed in the French piano repertoire and studying with renowned professors across Lyon, Paris and Nice.
Imogen’s passion for promoting performance confidence and musical expression speaks through a holistic teaching approach, encouraging students to develop their technique whilst nurturing their individual musical interests and enjoyment at the instrument.

When not teaching, Imogen enjoys running and wild swimming in the Welsh valleys and spending time outdoors with her family and dog!

Clementine Smith

(Student Teacher)
Piano

Clementine is our student teacher. She is a music scholar at Wimbledon High School, and is currently in the Sixth Form completing her A Levels. She studied piano from the age of 4, taking her Grade 8 at age 13. She also sings and plays the viola, as well as playing orchestral percussion. Clementine teaches piano for Scales Music, teaching beginners up to Grade 5. When not busy with music, she enjoys dance and coxing for WHS boat club.

Joel Fernandez

Piano,Strings

Joel began his musical education as a cathedral chorister at Exeter Cathedral under Andrew Millington, gaining a strong musical foundation in his time there, while also being exposed to several different kinds of music-making. He then received a Music award to Winchester College, before going to Oxford University. He is currently a MMus student in Vocal Performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where he holds the Kathleen Creed Scholarship, and was previously a Morag Noble scholar in the Choir of the Old Royal Naval College under Ralph Allwood MBE. For the academic year 2026-7, he will be a choral scholar at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Having previously studied Classics at Jesus College, Oxford before deciding to become a musician, he brings versatility, perspicacity and adaptability to his career as both a teacher and performer.

Having come from a multifaceted school role pre-conservatoire, which saw him teaching sixth-form Latin and Ancient Greek down to Year 5 Food Technology, Joel has experience working with children of all ages; he also possesses a strong ability to understand each child’s personal circumstances and specific learning styles and can thus tailor his approach to each pupil. From his personal experience as a former music award holder at Winchester College, where he studied violin under a former LSO concertmaster, played a concert at the Barbican and sang a cappella with a former King’s Singer, he has a personal understanding of how the Music Scholarship process works in the independent sector, and is always happy to advise students working towards these auditions.

As a professional tenor, Joel has performed internationally all over Europe, recorded several CDs and has taken part in multiple BBC Radio 3 Choral Evensongs.

When not singing or playing, Joel enjoys reading and swimming, having narrowly missed out on a Half-Blue in the latter while at Oxford.