We are thrilled to be welcoming the following adjudicators to the Lichfield Festival of Music in 2025:
Piano Solo & Duet Classes
Solo Instrumental Clases
Instrumental Duet & Ensemble Classes
Anthony Williams MMus GRSM(Hons) DipRAM LRAM
Concert pianist, writer, lecturer, examiner and adjudicator, Anthony Williams studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London and then at Reading University.
Following international competition success, he embarked on a career as a concert pianist and alongside this quickly established an international reputation as a piano teacher and a passionate educator of pianistic musicianship at all ages and levels, giving piano masterclasses, public lecture-recitals and seminars on performance and the art of teaching both in the UK and abroad, including China and Hong Kong.
He also coaches on International Summer Schools and Residential Courses. Anthony has given talks on piano performance for Radio 3 and is author and editor of various publications including The Best of Grade and Fingerprints (Faber), Teaching Notes (ABRSM), EPTA Piano Journal, and the highly acclaimed Piano Teacher’s Survival Guide (Faber).
He is an ABRSM examiner (diploma, jazz and classical), educational consultant, and a member of the examiner training and review team. He is also a member of BIFF, Chair of EPTA Europe and President of Chipping Norton Music Festival.
He was Head of Keyboard and Instrumental at Radley College, Oxfordshire for 34 years until retiring last summer to focus on his freelance and consultancy work.
Over-18s and Vocal Solo & Duet Classes
Choral Classes
Jane Wilkinson BMus(Hons)(RSAMD) GradDipRCM
Jane trained as a soprano at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and then at the Royal College of Music where she won many competitions and awards. She performs solo art song recitals across the country and has toured South Africa, Europe and America.
Jane teaches singing at Laine Theatre Arts and is a singing tutor at Imperial College, London. She is a former singing teacher at St Cecilia’s School, Wandsworth, Brunel Universities, Chelsea Academy and Flora Gardens School, Hammersmith. Jane is a former member of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and now conducts New Malden Voices and New Malden Youth Choir.
Jane has premiered many contemporary operas and frequently works alongside composers on new works for the stage and for recordings. She has performed oratorios and concerts at Edinburgh Festival, Royal Albert Hall and many other distinguished venues. Jane leads vocal masterclasses and workshops internationally and often runs ‘audition technique’ days for aspiring singers.
Jane has taught singers of all ages and standards and has a great passion for educating. Her voice has featured on a wide variety of albums and recordings from children’s repertoire to contemporary folk rock. Jane has been adjudicating for the British and International Federation of Festivals since 2012.
Under-18s Vocal Solo & Duet Classes
Piano Solo & Duet Classes
Ben Costello MA BMus PgDip FISM FRSA
Ben is a freelance musical director, adjudicator, singing coach and accompanist, working internationally, and is also Artistic Director of Thames Concerts. He is a generalist music adjudicator for the British and International Federation of Festivals, having joined in 2009, and was elected Music Chairman of the Adjudicators’ Council in 2024. He is also a music examiner for LCME and a consultant on their musical theatre syllabi.
A specialist in musical theatre and vocal performance, Ben has been musical director for numerous productions across the UK, and a reflective product of this has been his continuing work as a musical director and singing teacher at the cutting edge of performing arts training in London, with his portfolio over the years including Arts Ed, Mountview Academy, Trinity Laban, Laine Theatre Arts, Italia Conti, Guildford School of Acting, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, the Royal Academy of Music, Drama Studio London, and the London School of Musical Theatre.
At these colleges his work has included teaching singing technique, portfolio, acting through song, audition technique, and auditioning thousands of prospective students. Countless of his former singing students enjoy successful careers in the West End and beyond. He also teaches singing at Kingston Grammar School and Tiffin Girls’ School. Born and based in London, Ben trained initially as a flautist before majoring in piano, singing and conducting.
He read Music at Kingston University and the London College of Music, subsequently joining the teaching staff as the College’s first resident MD. Ben remains much sought-after as an accompanist, and collaborates in a variety of genres with countless singers and instrumentalists in many performing environments, working with several distinguished singers including Michael Chance CBE, James Bowman CBE, Robin Blaze, Hugh Cutting, Alison Pearce, Joanne Lunn, Peter Savidge, Richard Suart, Lotte Betts-Dean and Mark Dobell.
He is one of the regular pianists for Cantabile (The London Quartet), and has given concerts with them in Germany, Belgium and the UK. Ben is a Liveryman and on the Court of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. He chaired the Company’s prestigious annual musical direction scholarship for eight years, and is presently Chairman of the Company’s Jazz Committee. For the Federation, he is also an adjudicator mentor, and is a member of the interviewing panel for potential new music adjudicators. Outside music, Ben is a keen motorcyclist and wine bore.
Lichfield Festival of Music 