Ellen has ten years professional experience working freelance in community music and participatory, political theatre. She is currently based in South East London, with a BA in Drama (Exeter) and an MA in Applied Anthropology and Community Arts (Goldsmiths). She has worked in a variety of settings between the UK and Germany with children, teenagers, disabled adults, unaccompanied minors, refugee and migrant women, and torture survivors.

She leads 3 London-based community choirs, each with a different character and social focus, using a playful and embodied approach to group singing as a member of the Natural Voice Network. She also writes and arranges songs for choirs, which are available to purchase.

Her community theatre and opera experience includes direction, assistance and workshop facilitation for Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network, Luminescent, Kiln Theatre, Dream Arts, Barefoot Opera, Loud Crowd, Hellerau European Centre for the Arts and the State Theatre of Dresden, Germany.

Her solo theatre work includes ‘You, Me and the Distance Between Us’, which used poetry, puppetry, multi-rolling and song to raise awareness of the conditions in Europe’s refugee camps and the complex dynamics of ‘voluntourism’, performing in schools, universities, theatres and community centres across Europe from 2016-18.

Ellen grew up in East Sussex and moved to London in 2021 after 4 years living and working in Dresden, Germany.

She speaks fluent German and is currently studying Level 3 in British Sign Language.