Practitioners
At Silhouette, we have an amazing group of practitioners who are dedicated and passionate about sharing their skills and knowledge with our young people.
Leigh Wolmarans
Leigh is honoured and proud to be the CEO and joint Artistic Director of Silhouette Youth and he cannot think of a better job than working with young people every day. He has had the privilege of being a teacher, Deputy Headteacher and Headteacher in three incredible schools from London to Northampton, and has seen first-hand the impact that the Performing Arts can have on young people. The schools that Leigh has worked at have all been in high social deprivation, but he bought the community together and built three exceptional schools. Leigh has been involved in theatre since university and cannot count the number of productions directed or been involved in. From Terry Pratchett’s Mort to Jesus Christ Superstar to The Breakfast Club, the list goes on. Productions have always starred young people as they truly bring an energy to the stage that cannot be matched! To list the people or the companies Leigh has worked with would be endless but his work with the RSC has been to note.
Sam Biddulph
Sam trained at London Studio Centre, she then went on to do South Pacific at London’s Prince of Wales, Cats the original UK tour, Cats at London’s Gillian Lynne Theatre, and Starlight Express at The Apollo Victoria. Sam has performed in two Royal Variety Performances and many productions including Grease, Le Cage Aux Follies, The Rink and Hey Mr Producer. Sam has been teaching for many years, firstly at London Studio Centre specialising in Matt Mattox technique, then moving to Northampton, she now teaches children, young adults and adults. As Artistic Director and Dance lead at Silhouette, Sam has the absolute pleasure of watching young people grow and gain confidence and love for their passion for the arts.
John Bowman
John has recorded extensively as a session musician for a range of artists from the UK and Africa. John particularly enjoys working with emerging artists, having appeared on over 100 albums and EPs, mainly accompanying singer/songwriters and collaborating with other jazz musicians. He composed and recorded “Jinja” as the band leader, and three solo albums, “Tana”, “Skye” and “Gone”.
John studied at the London College of Music, specialising in composition and jazz, before gaining a PGCE from the Open University. In 2002, John and his wife Joy founded Notivate, an organisation dedicated to inspiring, supporting and encouraging children and young people through music. He is the author and leader of the “Notivate Singer/Songwriter Programme”, which has helped over 5,000 children in youth groups, mainstream and special education to compose, perform and record their songs.
As a workshop leader, John has taught jazz improvisation in schools, at The Stables in Wavendon (UK), Kampala Music School (Uganda) and in Antananarivo (Madagascar). He also provides piano tuition, specialising in vocal accompaniment and jazz. Former students include internationally acclaimed rock/pop artists, theatre performers, session musicians, jazz improvisers and songwriters.
John is the Musical Director for Silhouette and focuses on Songwriting with young people in Silhouette Sessions and outreach programmes.
George Grande-O’Neill
George began her musical journey at an early age, receiving both instrumental and singing lessons throughout her school years. Growing up, she actively participated in school productions and sang in multiple choirs in school and as part of NMPAT’s County Choirs. George trained at Northampton College in Musical Theatre and whilst in training, her performing roles included Elphaba (Wicked) Fantine (Les Misérables) and Ellen (Miss Saigon). Straight after her training, George continued to teach singing across the Northampton and Milton Keynes areas. As a certified Vocal Health First Aider, she is deeply passionate about Vocal Health and centres her teaching around this. Singing remains not just her profession, but a lifelong passion as George continues to perform around Northamptonshire regularly. Her favourite performances include singing alongside Scott Alan in Birmingham (2018) and Natalie Wiess in London (2018). For Silhouette, George covers all things voice – from group singing sessions to musical theatre sessions, from songwriting to individual singing.
Thomas Bursnoll
Thomas began his journey with Silhouette back in year 2 when Leigh became headteacher at Lings Primary School. He took part in every musical that was performed such as Matilda, Nightmare Before Christmas and Little Shop of Horrors. For 4 years, Thomas was a valued member of Lings Primary Performing Arts and went on to Silhouette when it first began in 2018. His time at Silhouette allowed him to grow as a person and a performer as well as giving him ample opportunities such as performing on the main stage at the Royal Shakespeare Company, being shortlisted for an assistant director job at the RSC (one of two shortlisted) and to direct 6 productions on top of performing in countless productions over the years. This year, Thomas is completing an apprenticeship with Silhouette, having responsibilities such as leading the leadership team, directing performances and teaching Performing Arts in our schools and sessions. Since Year 2, Performing Arts and Silhouette have become a central devotion and passion in Thomas’ life, and he cannot wait to work full-time with Silhouette!
Abby Vincent
Scott Bradley
Scott trained at Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre and has worked professionally as an actor on a national level since 2005. Scott is Royal & Derngate Generate Associate Artist graduate, directed Caucasian Chalk Circle on the Royal stage in 2022 and wrote and directed ‘Another Bloody Murder’ in 2024.
Scott is also a trained teacher with eight years experience in the classroom, and has spent his adult life teaching drama in many forms to adults and young people. He works with MIND Northampton to deliver workshops on clowning and mental health to adults, as part of the further development for his own show, Quince. He is also a founder member of East Midlands Actors Workshop.