Christopher Maughan, Honorary Research Fellow, Arts and Festivals Management
 
Chris Maughan has worked in the arts since graduating as a biologist in 1978, a combination that continues to fascinate him. He began by running a jazz development agency in the East of England and today combines being a voluntary jazz promoter with making a living as a researcher. His main interests are in life cycles and in impact/evaluation. He has published/completed several studies on economic and social impact of festivals from rock festivals to comedy, to children’s theatre to open studios to Caribbean carnival (from Leicester to Notting Hill). He is presently the coordinator for the European Festivals Research Project. From the early 90s until 2010 he was a trustee of the Anne Peaker Centre for Arts in Criminal Justice. He is currently a director with the Centre for Indian Classical Dance and Leicester Comedy Festival.

Ray Cooper,singer, songwriter and multi instrumentalist.

On stage Ray accompanies himself on cello and on guitar. His first solo album called Tales of Love War and Death by Hanging was released in 2010 on Westpark and is mostly made of self penned songs with an influence from Scotland (Ray is half Scottish) and Sweden, where he now lives. Ray produced the album and played most of the instruments but had some help from a few friends, notably from the Swedish fiddle player Patrik Andersson. Known in the trade as Chopper, he has been a member of the award winning group Oysterband for as long as he can remember and with them has released over 20 albums and toured in 27 countries. ..

Additional info:
Last year Ray launched the album at The Green Note in London, followed by a handful of solo and trio shows, notably a special acoustic (no mic) show at the Holywell Room in Oxford, and festival appearances at Sidmouth and The Big Session. In the last year Ray has also toured solo in Germany and as a duo with Patrik Andersson in Sweden.