News Entry

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Vanessa Nolan as our new Treasurer. Vanessa graduated in law and then switched to studying accountancy and has worked in accounts teams for 30+ years after qualifying with Ernst & Young and has a wealth of industry experience (from audit, power, distribution & logistics, construction, education, and creative arts). She has worked in the charity /not-for-profit sector for 10 years predominately in the education sector, but currently works at the Freedom Festival as their Finance Manager.

Vanessa is a local girl and music has played a large part of her life - learning the piano and violin from the age of four, but then moving from violin to bassoon when she was thirteen, following in her father’s footsteps (who used to play with the Hull Philharmonic!) She was part of the York Youth Orchestra whilst at school near York and part of the York County Orchestra. Having returned from school back to Hull for a year at Hull College, she joined the Hull Youth Orchestra and played with them on a Friday evening and then drove to York on a Saturday morning to play with the York Youth Orchestra. As part of school celebrations, Vanessa was fortunate to be selected as part of the Woodard Corporation to play the bassoon in a 100-year celebration culminating in a concert in the QE Hall in London.

Whilst Vanessa rarely plays the bassoon due to work commitments over the years, she continues to sing as alto having been in the school choir, and then for the last 20 years has sung with the Thorngumbald Choir (which recently disbanded) and has joined the Roos Community choir. She is also a member of the Freedom Chorus and was part of the City of Culture programme in 2017 - dressed in white, singing in a flower bed, and had the wonderful opportunity to be part of the small choir singing a Eliza McCarthy commission culminating in a trip to London to sing outside the QE Hall on the riverside.

“With my music background and accounting experience, when I saw the advert for someone to support the Hull Philharmonic as Treasurer, I jumped at the opportunity to offer my help and experience. I firmly believe that we all have ‘talents’ and it is my way of ‘giving something back’ using my skills.”

While we bid a sad, but fond farewell to our outgoing Treasurer, Andrew Pate, we are absolutely thrilled to welcome Vanessa to the HPO team!