Board

Sarah Chesney

Board member

Sarah Chesney has a strong background in the arts and education sectors. Most recently, she has worked at the Tertiary Education Commission, Victoria University of Wellington and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In her work with the NZSO, Sarah has collaborated with other national arts organisations, and she currently advises on research quality in New Zealand tertiary institutions for the Tertiary Education Commission. Sarah’s own research and teaching centres on the intersections between music, politics and cultural identity. As a freelance writer for various arts organisations, Sarah enjoys the challenge of providing material that is accessible and relevant to classical music newcomers and aficionados alike. Sarah studied musicology and clarinet at the New Zealand School of Music and the University of Oxford.

Catherine Cradwick

Board Chair

Catherine Cradwick has been a Stroma trustee since 2017 and board chair since 2020. She is a marketing and communications professional with extensive experience in shaping content for digital and print channels and managing international campaigns. She currently works as International Marketing Manager for Victoria University of Wellington. Previous roles include Content Editor for the 2018 New Zealand Festival and Senior Editor at Te Papa Press. Catherine has a strong background in the arts, events and publishing. She worked for more than 10 years for leading Melbourne publishers, in collaboration with prestigious arts institutions, including the National Gallery of Victoria and Heide Museum of Modern Art. Catherine is a keen musician, and studied Music and English Literature at Victoria University of Wellington.

Michelle Davis

Board member

Michelle Davis has been a trustee on Stroma’s board since 2014 and has also previously worked as Stroma’s Ensemble Manager. She has 15 years of experience in arts management both in the UK and New Zealand, including with top arts organisations such as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Royal New Zealand Ballet, as well as more recently working in project management for New Zealand Rugby. Michelle’s passion is in bringing quality artistic performances to the public. She has a particular interest in contemporary music and her final dissertation for her Bachelor’s Degree in Music was focused on Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Michelle continues to enjoy participating in the development of Stroma to ensure future audiences can enjoy a world-class contemporary music group based in Aotearoa.

Ken Ichinose

Board member

Cellist Ken Ichinose is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, London, having studied with Paul Watkins. He has performed numerous solo and chamber music recitals across Europe including venues in the UK, Italy, Holland, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Switzerland, as well as the USA and New Zealand. Ken was a founding member of the Galitzin String Quartet with whom he performed for ten years, building an extensive repertoire and winning numerous awards and prizes in England and abroad. The quartet were first prize winners at the 2007 Charles Hennen Competition in Holland. Ken is also an experienced orchestral musician, having performed extensively with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields in the UK and abroad. Ken was appointed Associate Principal Cello of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in October 2014 and is also currently a member of Kiwa String Quartet and the contemporary music ensemble Stroma.

Marcus Jackson

Board Member

Marcus Jackson is an artist and composer based in Wellington, New Zealand. He likes to collaborate with performers, creating work that interrogates the links between physical gesture and sound production, often with uncanny results. His musical training was geared towards contemporary classical music, creative technology, and ethnomusicology.

Marcus won First Equal Prize in the Asian Composers’ League Young Composers Competition in 2018, was the Sound Artist in Residence at New Zealand School of Music/Toi Pōneke in 2020–2021, and was Performance Facilitator at play_station Gallery in 2021. 

Some recent projects include SLIME INHERITANCE, Toi Pōneke, Wellington (2020–2021); like some kind of residue, Wellington (2019 and 2021); expectation of a sensory event is enough to induce ownership over a fake hand, Performance Art Week Aotearoa, Wellington (2018); like speaking into each others’ mouths, Taipei and Wellington (2018 and 2021) and the way a smile fades, MEANWHILE, Wellington (2018).

Sarah Smythe

Board member

Sarah Smythe has extensive experience in communications, marketing and event management in the music and education sectors. Before moving into her current work as a communications professional, she was the Engagement Manager at the New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, where she led the School’s events and outreach. Prior to that she was an event manager with Venues Wellington, managing large-scale events in the city’s top venues. A trained classical pianist, Sarah holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Auckland. She is also the co-founder and producer of Old Hall Gigs, a successful concert series aimed at presenting music and the arts in unique and underutilised venues around Wellington. With strong ties to the music community and an appreciation for diverse genres, her passion lies in fostering inclusive, meaningful experiences between artists and audiences.

Ken Spagnolo

Board member

Sophie Thorn

Board member

Sophie Thorn is a curator and writer based in Te Whanganui a Tara, Wellington. She is currently the Kaiwhakarākei Curator Collections at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery. Since 2014 she has cared for Nga Puhipuhi o Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection. She holds a Master of Arts in Art History and Theory from the University of Canterbury and a Diploma in Law and Collections Management through the London Institute of Art Law. She studied Heritage Materials Science through the Physical Sciences department at Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington and Metallurgy at the Chemical Institute of Technology in Prague, Czech Republic. She has previously worked at the Canterbury Museum, Experience Wellington and Te Manawa Museums Trust. Thorn has an ongoing collaborative relationship with Art History Professor Susan Ballard exploring art through an environmental humanities lens which has resulted in the exhibitions Listening Stones Jumping Rocks (2021) and Folded Memory (2023). Recent exhibitions include Infrastructure: power, politics and imagination (2024), The buildings notice me (2024) and Vaiei Tupuna (2024).