About Us
We're Rayfield Allied – the classical music agency that's perfectly sized to offer the best for our artists. We’re small enough to ensure we deliver a service that’s personal, nimble, collaborative and tailored, with a close-knit and passionately informed team. Yet we’re large enough to make a difference, with international influence and an enviable global reputation with promoters, from the most intimate venues to the largest opera houses, orchestras, concert halls and festivals worldwide.
Last season we celebrated 10 years since Rayfield Allied’s formation, growing from a merger in 2011 between Allied Artists Agency and Rayfield Artists. This season we're excited to launch Rayfield Allied Publishing, a venture designed to provide a new level of support to several of our composers.
Allied Artists Agency was established in 1971 representing classical musicians in the UK and internationally. From the beginning, alongside singers and conductors, new ground was broken in areas which have since become commonplace in artists’ management, such as the representation of composers, performers on original instruments, world music artists, and theatre directors and designers for operatic production.
Since its formation in 2005, Rayfield Artists quickly built up an outstanding roster of clients. Initially working with world-class early-music specialists and vocal ensembles, the artist list grew to encompass opera and concert singers, as well as a select instrumental and chamber music roster.
Rayfield Allied’s current artist list still reflects these diverse interests. We’re proud of our reputation as a respected classical music agency, our dedicated and experienced team representing the world’s finest performers, composers and creatives, enabling them to showcase the best of their craft, while also pushing the boundaries of what classical music is about.
The Team
Ben Rayfield was born in Yorkshire and educated at Leeds Grammar School. He was awarded a choral scholarship to study Mathematics and Philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford University, where he sang in the choir under the direction of Bill Ives. After graduating in 1995, Ben was appointed as a lay-clerk in the choir of New College, Oxford, directed by Edward Higginbottom, regularly touring and recording with groups such as The King’s Consort and The Academy of Ancient Music.
On leaving Oxford in 1997, Ben embarked on a freelance career as a musician, and has enjoyed great success, having made over a hundred recordings in repertoire as diverse as medieval music on Hyperion, via grand opera on Opera Rara and Chandos, through to the Cannes Classical Award-winning recording of Arvo Pärt’s Passio on Naxos.
Particularly noted as an early music singer, Ben has regularly performed with consorts such as The Tallis Scholars, The Cardinall’s Musick and The Clerk’s Group, as well as the larger choirs of The Sixteen, The Gabrieli Consort and The English Concert.
In 2003, Ben moved into the field of artist management, firstly working closely with Sue Nicholls in the vocal department at Hazard Chase Ltd, before starting his own agency, Rayfield Artists, in 2005. In September 2011 Rayfield Artists merged with Allied Artists Agency to form Rayfield Allied, of which he is Managing Director. From 2011 to 2016 he was a Director of the International Artists’ Managers Association, and in 2018 he chaired IAMA's conference in London's King's Place.
Ben works with the following artists
Simon Goldstone read French and Music at King’s College, London University. After an early career in real estate he made a major career change and spent the next five years in arts administration, initially at the Royal Albert Hall and then at the Southbank Centre. Simon, a fluent French speaker, moved to Paris in 1990 and into the music agency business for Organisation Internationale Artistique, where his clients included Roberto Alagna and José van Dam. Five years later, Simon was invited to join IMG Artists, where he was an Artist Manager in the Vocal Division for fourteen years before joining Intermusica as Director, Vocal and Opera in 2010. When not at the opera Simon enjoys scuba diving and, as a former member of the British Junior Swimming Team, he still swims several miles a week.
Simon works with the following artists
Nicki Wenham graduated in music from the University of Birmingham in 2004. After a six-month internship with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, she took up a position with artist management company Sulivan Sweetland. In October 2008 she joined Ingpen & Williams as an Artist Manager looking after around twenty international singers, conductors and instrumentalists as well as working closely with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for their UK touring. In 2012, she participated in the Clore Emerging Leaders course and in the same year, was interviewed and selected by Musical America as a "rising star of the performing arts business." From 2016-2021 Nicki worked as a Senior Artist Manager at Maxine Robertson Management until joining Rayfield Allied in September 2021 as a Director.
Nicki is a founding member and director of Young People In the Arts, a networking organisation for those at the earlier stages of their careers in the arts for which she now sits on the Board. She has also previously chaired the Broadcasting and Media Committee for the International Artist Managers’ Association.
In her spare time Nicki enjoys long walks with her dog Otto, cooking, art and architecture, singing in her choir, sailing and socialising with friends.
Nicki works with the following artists
Ralph Blackbourn read Music at the University of York, initially as a pianist and later switching to composition, which he studied with Nicola Lefanu and Roger Marsh. His resulting interest in contemporary music led him to an internship at the London Sinfonietta and subsequently to join Allied Artists in April 2000, whose clients at that time included Birtwistle, Reich, Berio, Stockhausen and Ligeti. He now manages a broad roster of artists that encompasses music from the Renaissance onwards and includes composers, conductors, instrumentalists and singers.
In his spare time he retains an interest in composition and continues to perform locally on the piano. He also enjoys running long distances.
Ralph works with the following artists
- Katie Bray
- Michael Berkeley
- Ya-Fei Chuang
- Laurence Cummings
- Omar Ebrahim
- Bjarte Eike and Barokksolistene
- Jane Gibson
- David Hill
- Amjad Ali Khan
- Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash
- Zubin Kanga
- Nicholas Kok
- Robert Levin
- Nicholas Mulroy
- Nicholas McGegan
- Jennifer Pike
- Tim Reed
- Anthony Romaniuk
- Sō Percussion
- Pierre-André Valade
- Sonoko Miriam Welde
Born in Belgium and raised in Riyadh and Guildford, Francesca Nunn read Modern Languages at Durham University, where she completed placements in opera management in Paris, and in production across multidisciplinary projects at the Deutsche Oper Tischlerei and Berghain in Berlin. She also has a Masters in Philosophy specialising in continental aesthetics from Birkbeck College, University of London, which she studied for while working as a freelance production runner for the BBC Proms, BBC Music Television, and events at Kensington Palace. She joined Rayfield Allied in 2017, and is also Music Programming Manager at Voksenåsen Music Academies in Norway, working on their talent development events and mentorship programmes for young musicians.
She is an erstwhile pianist (but remains determined to tackle Chopin’s Ballades one day), and a trained listener volunteer for the Samaritans. When not expanding her musical horizons at performances in London and Oslo, she can be found swimming in lakes and lidos, walking long distances to find good bakeries, and learning Norwegian and Swedish on Duolingo.
Francesca works with the following artists
Katie Smart read Music with Spanish at Royal Holloway, University of London and graduated in 2017. Her dissertation centred on film music and she focused her performance on her primary instrument of the piano, whilst also performing in choirs and orchestras and working behind the scenes. Following internships with the London Mozart Players and IMG Artists, Katie joined Rayfield Allied in September 2017.
Katie also enjoys badminton, choral singing and sewing.
Katie works with the following artists
Zachary Dickerson graduated from King's College London with a BA in German and Music and the Associateship of King's College before attaining his MPhil in Music (Musicology) at King's College, Cambridge where he wrote a dissertation about Wagner's Tannhäuser and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He has held an internship at Opera Holland Park, an Undergraduate Research Fellowship at KCL, and presented papers on Beethoven and Wagner at the Cambridge Undergraduate Conference in German Studies. Throughout his years at KCL, Zack was particularly active in the Opera Society as President, Musical Director and Répétiteur.
Outside the opera house, Zack enjoys playing the piano, cooking, and going on long walks around London.
Zachary works with the following artists
- Tim Anderson
- Peter Bronder
- Richard Burkhard
- Francesca Chiejina
- Adrian Dwyer
- Bernhard Hansky
- Anna Harvey
- Peter Harvey
- Julia Jones
- Svetlana Kasyan
- Michael Lafferty
- Gianluca Marcianò
- Paul McCreesh
- Alexandra Oomens
- René Pape
- David Parry
- Brett Polegato
- Tobias Ringborg
- Sergey Romanovsky
- Sylvia Schwartz
- Miklós Sebestyén
- Konstantin Shushakov
- David Soar
- Andrew Watts
Pippa Jackson studied at Bath Spa University where she read music, graduating with 1st class honours in 2020. She moved to London from Bath in 2022 after working for the NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Programme at the BANES head office. She was delighted to start working for Rayfield Allied and be in a field that combined her passion for music with her love of planning. Pippa also manages the marketing and social media for Thomas Tallis Society and St Endellion Easter Festival as well as being the librarian for the Holst Singers.
In her free time, Pippa enjoys singing in choirs, cooking for friends and has recently taken up knitting.
Pippa works with the following artists
Sophie Rogan studied Music at the University of Cambridge, where she held a choral scholarship at Gonville and Caius College. Graduating with a first-class BA degree, she continued her studies there for a further year: her MPhil thesis examined neglected manuscripts of sacred music from the time of the Reformation in England. Following her academic studies, Sophie went on to pursue another master’s degree – this time in violin performance. Studying at the Royal Academy of Music, she took lessons with Joshua Fisher, and learnt Baroque violin Pavlo Beznosiuk.
Sophie has a number of her own private pupils aged 9-15, and enjoys teaching them violin and music theory. Since leaving Cambridge, she has also kept up her singing: she now holds a choral scholarship at St Mary’s Battersea, and also enjoys performing (either with singing or violin) for special events such as weddings.
In her free time, Sophie enjoys walking and being in the outdoors. She is very adventurous and loves trying new things: at the moment, she is especially enjoying travelling to new European cities when she has the chance!
Sophie works with the following artists
Emre Türktopu studied music with a focus on Oboe performance at the Dokuz Eylül University State Conservatory, in Izmir. He then went on to study at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana, in Lugano, Switzerland, graduating with a Master’s in Music Performance in Oboe and additional studies in Management at Università della Svizzera italiana in order to develop his great interest in this field academically. He has had the chance to perform in prestigious venues such as Konzerthaus Berlin, Rudolfinum Prague, Smetana Hall, Teatro Filarmonico Verona, Auditorium Parco della Musica Roma, Die Glocke Bremen and many other well-known venues around the world.
Before joining Rayfield Allied, Emre worked at festivals across Europe including Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, Moritzburg Festival, and Festival della Piana del Cavaliere as Project Manager and Orchestra Manager.
In his spare time, Emre enjoys reading, taking a walk in nature, travelling, learning foreign languages and spending time with his friends.
Maya Wheeler-Colwell studied at the University of Bristol, where she read Music with additional studies in Italian and was the President of the University Operatic Society. She went on to train at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with a Masters in Vocal Performance, and going on to tour as a soloist with independent opera companies around the UK and singing in the chorus at La Monnaie in Brussels.
During her time at Bristol University, Maya co-founded Love Opera, a small company committed to introducing both young singers and new audience members to the operatic repertoire. Over three seasons they produced new productions of four operas, including a world premiere of The Picture of Dorian Gray and a new translation of Gianni Schicchi, which Maya adapted from the original Italian. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked as a Bookseller, a Sales Executive in the City and interned as an assistant for a Literary agency. A keen linguist, she grew up bilingual in English and French, speaks fluent German and a smattering of Italian.
Maya enjoys reading, exploring her newfound talent for sourdough and travelling to visit far-flung friends and family.
Maya works with the following artists
