Hampstead Arts Festival - PEOPLE

Jenny White

Chair

Jenny qualified as a barrister and spent 30 years in industry as a commercial lawyer, followed by a portfolio career in equality and regulation.  She now works as a legal adviser to a cross-bench Peer on parliamentary matters.

Music has been a life-long passion – she sings in several choirs and for many years volunteered with the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust which introduces young people to chamber music. Getting involved with the Festival has been a hugely enriching experience.

Jeremy Karpel

Trustee

After completing a BA degree course in Interior Design and Architecture, I worked for Warner Bros at Pinewood Studios as a draughtsman and set designer. However life moves in mysterious directions after which I went on a tangent and entered the estate agency industry here in Hampstead where I have now been for nearly thirty years. Throughout all this time my second love has always been the arts, whether it be drawing, film or music and the opportunity to both support and have an active involvement in the HAF and what it brings to the wider community both within and without NW3 was an opportunity I could not pass up.

Valeria Vescina

Literary Director

Valeria is from Puglia, was educated in Switzerland and the UK, and has lived for years in London. She is an author, literary and opera reviewer and creative writing tutor. Her debut novel, That Summer in Puglia, was launched at the Oxford Literary Festival. She’s now writing her second novel. She teaches workshops on the narrative potential of different art forms, including music, a lifelong passion. 

After a successful career in management, Valeria gained an MA in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths (University of London). She is also a Sloan Fellow (MSc) of London Business School.

Maurits Dolmans

Trustee

Maurits is an international lawyer, originally from The Netherlands, who moved to Hampstead in 2010.  Apart from his antitrust practice, he is increasingly involved in sustainability and climate matters. He is married to a painter and photographer from Canada. He finds that one of the greatest joys of living here is the fantastic and unsurpassed musical tradition, and especially the transcendental beauty of English choral music. He sings in a choir, chairs the Friends of the Music in Hampstead, and is a Trustee of the Hampstead Church Music Trust.  In addition, he enjoys tall ship sailing, maritime history, long distance walking, and travel.

Anna Zelkina

Trustee