Staff Members
Niki Robinson - Principal
Niki co-owns Artemis Studios Performing Arts School, Artemis Agency and Artemis Productions.
Niki has been working in performing arts since the age of 8 when she appeared on C-ITV. She went to the B.R.I.T performing arts school in London at 15 (she was in the Foundation Year - one of the first 100 students) and has continued her training with many practitioners since.
Niki first worked with Bart at Freeflow Productions, an Arts Council funded organisation; co producing professional shows, pantomimes and large community led productions.
For four years Niki acted as an education consultant to The Children's International Arts Organisation (CIAO!) organising festivals and outreach which bought theatre and music to 1000's of children and teenagers every year.
She began her first school in 2003, and now has her own studios in Berkshire. She also consults/produces many professional theatrical shows each year. She still occasionally works as a professional actress, mostly in commercials.
She recently worked with the National Theatre, where she produced a new short play with older Artemis Medusa Teen Theatre Company students as part of the nationwide ‘Connections’ event.
Amy McGavin
Amy graduated from Mountview Academy in 2009 on their Postgraduate course and since then has worked in theatre, film and education.
Roles include:Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz (The Cat's Grin Theatre Company) Picadilly Poll/Captain Flint in Treasure Island (Space Productions) Lily in I love you...not. (MetFilm School) and Ophelia in The Secret Love Life of Ophelia (MustardSeed Productions)
Roles while at Mountview include: Viola in Twelfth Night, Belinda in Man of Mode, Marina in Uncle Vanya and Patricia in The Orchestra, Ratty in Wind in the Willows (Windsor Globe).
Amy is also an experienced workshop leader and has worked with Creation Theatre Company running their Drama Club and with EF language school, introducing foreign students to the fun side of Shakespeare.
Amy's Father, Prof. George McGavin is a popular BBC one presenter - appearing as regular on the One Show, and recently in a fabulous documentary - After Life.
Bart Lee
Bart writes and directs for our theatre company. He trained at Rose Bruford Drama College in acting and with Beryl Jarvis in dancing. He attended the Ranalagh School in Berkshire and Henley College in Oxfordshire. Bart has worked as a professional performer and actor with the Really Useful Group, the National Youth and Music Theatre, in many commercials, pop videos and as a photographic and television model. Bart also plays the drums and gigs in a Hammond driven Jazz Funk Band.
Upon graduating Bart set up and ran a theatre company gaining recognition by ACE for new writing and encouraging young people in to the theatre, this is where he met Artemis director Niki. The company was invited to be an RFO for three years and completed a successful portfolio of new theatre work, outdoor site specific community Shakespeare and writing and directing Christmas Shows. During this time Bart undertook private training courses in Dramaturgy with John Ginman and studied the place and meaning of theatre in society with John Fox. Bart was appointed Artistic Director of The Castle Theatre in Northamptonshire completing a successful 3 year post. Duties included programming all artistic activity in the 500 seat main house, 100 seat studio theatre and for two visual arts spaces.
Becky Moir
Rebecca has been involved in drama from an early age and has developed her interest into many areas of theatre over the years. She has worked as a Professional Stage Manager, most notably for GSA (Guildford School of Acting) and has also performed as a Professional Puppeteer, having been trained by Marcus Clarke of the Henson Corporation. She has designed sets and served as technical Director on many shows, co-ordinating lighting and sound design along with special effects. Rebecca holds a BA Hons in Drama and Theatre Studies with English Literature, and a PGCE from Reading University; one of the most highly thought of teaching institutions in the country, under Andy Kempe.
She qualified as a teacher in July 2000 and has since been teaching Drama in Secondary Schools in the local area, most recently at The Holt in Wokingham.
At present she is working as a freelance Drama teacher and teaching LAMDA qualifications.
Directing Credits include; ‘Our Day Out’ by Willy Russell, ‘Our Country’s Good’ by Timberlake Wertenbaker, ‘Colder than Here’ by Laura Wade, ‘Peter Pan’ by Piers Chater-Robinson, ‘Teechers’ by John Godber, ‘My Mother Said I Never Should’ by Charlotte Keatley, ‘Top Girls’ by Caryl Churchill, ‘A Semblance of Madness’ by John H. Newmeir.
Acting credits include; ‘Our Country’s Good’ by Timberlake wertenbaker, ‘Daisy Pulls it Off’ by Denise Deegan, ‘Saturday, Sunday, Monday’ by Alvin Kleein, ‘La Bete’ by David Hirson, ‘A Chorus of Disapproval’ by Alan Ayckbourn, ‘Stepping Out’ by Richard Harris, ‘The Wind in the Willows’ by Alan Bennett, ‘The Elephant Man’ by Bernard Pomerance, ‘The Hothouse’ by Harold Pinter, ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’ by Dario Fo.
Catherine Mayhew - Auxillary Staff
Catherine is one of our classroom 'mummies'. She is the classroom assistant in Petite Street on Saturday mornings. Catherine is there for the pastoral care of our under fives (inluding loo breaks!)
Catherine is a mother of two, and her daughter Freya is part of our senior cheer team, Dance Majors (ADC) and Triple Threat Advanced.
When she is not at Artemis, Catherine works for Wildridings Primary School.
Claire Keohane - Auxillary Staff
Claire is one of our classroom 'Mummies'. Working as an assistant in Artemis Petite and Petite Street, she is there to take care of our under fives when they need pastoral care (or the loo!).
She is a mother of five, and two of her boys are part of the Artemis JZ Stars and Advanced Triple Threat.
Claire is also an amazing hairdresser and takes care of all the styling at dance competitons.
Derry Pope
Derry is a multi disciplined performer with skills ranging from accents to opera to composer to dance. With formal training from Redroofs Theatre School and Guildhall school of music and drama.
In addition to arranging all the music for Wind in the Willows, and creating all the incidental music in the show, Derry also arranged the music for Much Ado.
Derry is a popular singing teacher at Artemis Studios, where he offers private classes on a Friday.
Gemah Allen
Gemah has been working full time in performing arts since 2008.
She is general manager at Artemis Studios in Bracknell, as well as coach for our award winning Street-Cheer squads.
She comes from a theatrical family and has appeared on TV many times.
Hayley Gunning - Auxillary Staff
Hayley is our book keeper.
Hayley's daughter Maria was an Artemis student from the first day we opened. Maria has now graduated and is a full time dance student at the prestigious Millenium dance college in London.
Jo Truppin - Music Cover
Jo has been with Artemis for three years. She is our cover music teacher for Saturday classes - if Jonothan is ever performing (he is an opera singer), Jo steps in as cover.
Jo is a graduate of the fabulous Guildford Conservatoire, where she studied musical theatre.
An accomplished musician, singer and performer, Jo co-owns The Beatnik Collective, a London based theatre company. She can also been seen in the most recent Heinz soup advert!
Jonathon Swinard
Jonathon read Music at St Catherine’s College, Oxford (where he graduated with a first) and is currently studying for a performance Masters in vocal coaching on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
He started his musical education aged six and in 2008 received his DipABRSM in Piano Performance and Grade 8 Singing with distinction.
Back home in Devon, he spent three years as Musical Director of the Kingsbridge Youth Theatre and worked as an accompanist for the Kingsbridge Amateur Theatrical Society. More recently, he has worked as both an opera and choral conductor. Conducting credits include, Salieri Falstaff, Rossini The Barber of Seville, and Handel Esther for New Chamber Opera Studio, T.S.Eliot Murder in the Cathedral for the Oxford Playhouse, Passing The Remote – a children’s opera for the Oxford Faculty of Music and three large-scale choral concerts for the Oxford University Student Chorus. As a rehearsal pianist and vocal coach, Jonathon has worked for Guildhall Opera School, New Chamber Opera, OU Gilbert and Sullivan Society and St Peter’s Opera. He has sung with many choirs, including Lincoln College Chapel Choir and the Stanborough Chorus. He is also an actor whose credits include Tony Brockhurst in The Boyfriend at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Mr Braddock in The Graduate, the title role in The Philanthropist and Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady.
Jonathon teaches singing, piano, theory and musical theatre at Artemis Studios. Students can work towards graded exams (ABRSM, Trinity, GSA, LAMDA) or concentrate on personal repertoire. Private lessons are fun, friendly and focused to meet each individuals needs.
Josh Barrow
Josh trained at Urdang in London, where he now often returns to teach.
He choreogrpahs for several dance companies and also offers private lessons. Josh is head of dance at Artemis Studios.
Stephen Harrison - Co-owner
Stephen has been involved in the arts from an early age as a musician and actor. He graduated with a degree in Software Engineering and worked in the IT industry before becoming a professional lighting designer, stage manager and sound engineer.
Stephen also works as a Director of Photography on films, and also editor.
As a dancer he competed for several years on the inter-varsity Ballroom and Latin-American circuit.
Whenever possible, Stephen spends time working on youth development projects in remote parts of the world, such as Borneo (where he returns in January 2012 for a four month project with Raleigh International), Ghana and Fiji.
Stephen has recently toured the UK as production manager and sound designer for productions of ‘Beautiful Thing’ with Giddy Ox theatre company ‘Beauty and the Beast’ with Black Eyed Theatre and 'Frankenstein' with Proteus Theatre Company.
Stephen co-owns the Windsor Globe Open Air Theatre Festival with Niki Robinon and Bart Lee.