Ariane Todes Email & Phone Number

London, United Kingdom

I create editorial and marketing content for the agency, which manages leading musicians and creatives, and run its social media channels.

London, United Kingdom

In 2023, my freelance work included: - interviewed Anne-Sophie Mutter and visited Mittenwald and Dublin for BBC Music Magazine- spoke to players from Academy of Ancient Music for extensive interviews in the CD booklets for their Mozart Piano Concerto series- chaired Dextra Music’s Master to Master conference in Oslo- researched and interviewed violin makers for a book celebrating the 50th anniversary of Newark Violin Making School- wrote copy for Barbican Centre’s classical music season- wrote about celebrated violin dealer Norman Rosenberg for Ingles & Hayday and Jewish Chronicle- wrote copy for National Opera Studio’s new marketing leaflet- interviewed André J Thomas for London Symphony Orchestra- designed the website for Corinthian Chamber Orchestra, of which I’m a member- started my own Substack, Elbow Music, where I wrote about my European interrail trip - coached two young marketing executives in copywritingAs a freelance writer, I have created marketing content for organisations including London Symphony Orchestra, ChamberStudio, Southbank International Chamber Music Series, Wigmore Hall and Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic, including Q&As, features, videos interviews, newsletters, press releases and social media content, as well as offering strategic advice. Working with clients and understanding their needs and voice, I am able to plan strong content that can be repurposed across multiple platforms.My freelance journalism includes for BBC Music Magazine, The Guardian, Financial Times, Gramophone, Songlines, Idagio, Sinfini, Cozio, Music Teacher and Classical Music. As a string music expert, I have appeared on Radio 3's Record Review, discussing box sets by violinists Szigeti and Rostal. I took part in a panel discussion of the Russian violin school at the BBC Proms and chaired Dextra Musica's Master to Master conference.

I was brought in to create a magazine and editorial content in celebration of the company's 50th anniversary year. I captured the company's essence through a series of interviews, articles and opinion pieces, supported by appropriate imagery and visuals that aligned to the corporate identity. This was my process: - interviewed Jasper Parrott and senior staff to get a sense of the company's history, strengths and vision- interviewed the company's artists, to understand their relationship with the organisation- sourced quotes from staff- researched archive pictures and documents as well as photographs of current projects- edited interviews and relevant opinion pieces- structured the content roughly around past, present and future, to show the company's journey over its 50 years- briefed the designer (Jessie Earle)- negotiated with printers (4-Print)Alongside this work, I supported the marketing activities of the company:- repurposed some of the content to create and design the printed programme for the main anniversary event, the concert at Royal Festival Hall, on 8 October 2019- wrote speeches for the anniversary event- interviewed artists on their various projects to generate content for ongoing HP50 celebrations- wrote copy for specific concerts - ghost wrote blogs for media

London, United Kingdom

I was responsible for various aspects of marketing Guildhall School of Music & Drama events and courses and communicating its stories and messages. This included devising marketing strategies for its ticketed concerts and events, designing, copywriting and project managing the production of leaflets, posters, adverts, events guides and course brochures. I supported Guildhall's external press relations agency, oversaw internal communications, set up ticketing with Barbican Box Office, supervised advertising strategy and budget, managed photography strategy and budget, oversaw the print schedule, edited and commissioned programme notes and managed a team of three. Specific achievements:- reconceived, researched and wrote the Annual Report to demonstrate the School's achievements in reaching its strategic objectives. Using both statistics and quotes in a highly visual way, both objective and subjective, I aimed to show at a glance the great impact the School has not only on its students' lives, but also on the lives those students touch with their creativity.- introduced a house style guide to improve consistency of all copy across the School.- redesigned external noticeboards and posters to put Guildhall's mission across very clearly to people who are visiting the building for the first time.- devised a new programme note format to support students in communicating directly with their audiences.

Royal Academy Of Music, Marylebone Road, London

I balanced a complex workload including press relations, social media, internal communications, publications, advertising, website management and event marketing. Highlights include pitching successfully for a postgraduate student to perform a Michael Finnissey Schubert transcription in the last five minutes of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme; getting press coverage for a story about a new BAME scholarship; and organising a live broadcast from the museum’s piano gallery for Weibo that was seen by 1 million people in China. I ran the Academy’s social media feeds, devising campaigns and memes to promote specific concerts, recognise student achievements and support the organisation generally, and I introduced detailed reports on social media and website traffic. I initiated and oversaw the Academy’s first Facebook Live sessions, from the masterclasses of Nicola Benedetti and James Ehnes – each of which had over 30,000 views across the world. I restructured and edited the Academy's Prospectus, to make it more inclusive and visually engaging (see the link below).

As Editor of Arco, the membership magazine for the European String Teachers Association, I modernised the look and feel of the magazine, introduced regular interviews with the great string pedagogues of today and included practical teaching articles and historic overviews. With Jesta, I included geeky editorial created by young players themselves and interviewed passionate students, to provide inspiration to aspiring young string musicians.

Founded in 1890, The Strad is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious classical music magazines. As Editor between 2006 and 2014 I was responsible for content strategy and creation, and for ensuring that the magazine lived up to its strap line of ‘Essential Reading for the String World’.My strategy focused on making the voice of string musicians central. My redesign in 2010 brought in short, topical first-person views at the front of the magazine, practice diaries, provocative opinion pieces and Masterclass features written (or ghost-written) by the greatest string players alive today. I Initiated the magazine’s first Guest Editor special editions, with Steven Isserlis and Hilary Hahn. This offered readers unparalleled and inspiring insight into the art and daily lives of musicians at various stages of their careers. As a result of this strategy, subscriber renewal rates went up from 60 per cent to 78 per cent. This success also convinced me that the way for classical musicians to reach audiences is to share with them specific aspects of their work, a theme that underlies my freelance work. As Editor, I interviewed famous musicians, teachers and luthiers, reported on competitions and festivals, and wrote regular comment pieces and blogs – these are available at my website, Elbow Music. I oversaw an editorial team of five and two designers to make sure that every issue came in on time and to budget, as well as extra projects such as The Strad Calendar, posters and supplements. Alongside print products, I oversaw digital strategy, web content and social media output, using Google Analytics and Google Keywords to drive progress. Another part of my strategy was building relationships with key people in the string world, so that content was always fresh and compelling. As brand ambassador, I represented the magazine at trade shows, concerts, festivals and competitions, led seminars and was interviewed by international news outlets as a voice of authority.

Master'S Degree, Philosophy, 2:1

Licentiate Degree, Violin