Our Supporters

Honorary Patrons

Alison with members of Cornwall Youth Choir at the INTERKULTUR International Choir Competition in Hull, April 2023

Dr Alison Daubney

Educator, researcher, evaluator, author

Dr Alison Daubney has a portfolio career, combining teaching, training, research and curriculum development across primary, secondary and higher education in and out of school settings.

She is a senior teaching fellow in education at the University of Sussex and has worked extensively on international assessment and curriculum development with the University of Cambridge International Examinations. She has written widely on assessment, technology, musical engagement of children in challenging circumstances and anxiety in performance domains.

Alison has lived, taught and worked in Brighton and Hove for over 30 years and is on the strategic partnership board of Brighton and Hove's Music Education Hub. She also regularly works with many other music education hubs, subject associations and arts organisations around the country, leading curriculum development work, running education programmes and undertaking research.

Alison previously served on the DfE Expert Subject Advisory Groups for Music Education and Assessment. She is the current co-editor of the British Journal of Music Education and is the author of "Teaching Primary Music" published by Sage. She is also the co-author of "Music Education: State of the Nation" - a report for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Music Education.

John Harries

Coming from a small town called Rhydamman in Wales John as a child was given the opportunity to have violin lessons at his local primary school. Alongside rugby, playing in orchestras ensured an enjoyable teenage life. He decided as a result of his love for music to study at Cardiff. This was then followed by studies at the Royal Academy of Music.A career followed as a free lance viola player in various London orchestras.John , however reflected on his earlier opportunities, a passionate belief developed that access to music should be for all.

John with members of Cornwall Youth Choir, April 2025

And so began a career in education; in 1990 John was appointed as Head of the Music Service for Cornwall. He was determined to enable young people to have access to music making , firmly believing this would open a wider world of music , allowing the chance for students to express their inner musical voice.

Harry Glasson

Harry Glasson was born near Praze-an-Beeble in West Cornwall, where his deep roots in the landscape, language and heritage of the county would shape everything he went on to create. The day after his sixteenth birthday he joined the Merchant Navy, and it was at sea that he began writing the poems and Cornish dialect verse that would eventually find their way to music — played on a guitar he had built himself in the school woodwork department.

Harry gigged around Cornwall for over thirty years, also touring the United States several times between 1998 and 2008 and building a devoted following far beyond the Tamar. He formed the Safari Brothers in 1990, and his songs — rooted in Cornwall's history, mining heritage and natural beauty — became cherished parts of the Cornish musical tradition.

In 2009, Harry was diagnosed with cancer of the vocal cords, leading to their full removal. Undeterred, he has continued to perform with the aid of a speech valve, and his influence on the next generation of Cornish artists and singers remains profound. His most celebrated song, Cornwall My Home, written in 1997, has become something close to an unofficial anthem for the county, sung by choirs, community groups and music lovers the world over.

Our Patrons

We are very grateful to all who support our ongoing work.

Thank you to our wonderful patrons:

Karen Hurn

Dr Karen Dickens

Cornwall Youth Choirs is funded by ASONE by Arts Council England funding.

Cornwall Youth Choirs are kindly supported by many businesses and organisations throughout the county. We are very grateful for their support.