A cup of tea with Ruth Mulvey

Ruth joined the team in August in the new position of Business Development Manager. We caught up with her over a cup of tea to find out a little more about her:

ITT: Hello, Ruth! How do you like your brew?

Ruth Mulvey: Black tea or black coffee.

ITT: You’ve been with ITT for a month now – how are you finding it?

RM: It has flown by, and been really varied and fun. I’ve already had chance to see one of our Making Tracks projects and performances in Kennington – it was incredible to see the change in the participants from the start of the week to the performance, and to see the process involved in writing and creating the new songs. I’ve also seen our Sounding Out ex-prisoner band perform to a large crowd at an event for the Social Business Trust. I’ve had the chance to meet some of ITT’s Trustees and Project Leaders. In between I’ve managed to do a bit of work as well (honest!).

ITT: What’s your background?

RM: I’ve worked for a range of arts organisations with a focus on music and education including City of London Sinfonia, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and Harrogate International Festivals. Before that, I trained as a musician myself at the Royal Academy of Music and I worked as a musician, teacher and workshop leader in the UK with a few years in Germany thrown in for good measure. I also have an MA in Culture, Creativity and Entrepreneurship from the University of Leeds and it is as part of this course that I first delved into the world of arts in the criminal justice system.

ITT: What made you want to work for ITT?

RM: It was very obvious when I first met the Team (now my lovely colleagues Sara, Luke and Hermione), and read about ITT’s work, that integrity and quality were central to everything about the organisation, and that the impact of ITT’s work on participants was hugely positive. In addition, I really liked ITT’s focus on the creation of new, original music in every project and felt very drawn to the aim of inspiring change in people through creating new music.

ITT: What are you excited about getting your teeth into?

RM: Well, my role is all about developing ITT and helping to grow what we do, and so I am excited to start thinking about how to take our model of work to more people in prisons and in the community, and what kind of partners can help us do this. In addition, ITT has a big birthday coming up and so it is going to be a lot of fun thinking about how we want to celebrate (we’ve already had lots of ideas so watch this space!)

ITT: What do you like to get up to in your spare time?

RM: I love exploring London’s arts/culture scene and so I often go to concerts, films, art galleries, opera and I’m a bit of a sucker for anything that sounds slightly quirky or involves going in to a cool/unusual venue. I’m a proud South-East Londoner so I enjoy spending time there. I’m a big craft beer/microbrewery fan and so I’m enjoying all of the amazing little independent breweries that seem to be popping up everywhere at the moment.  I’m currently also a Trustee of two small arts charities (contemporary music group Ensemble Amorpha, and Access All Areas, a theatre company for people with learning disabilities in Hackney) and as part of this I am currently helping out with the production of a new cabaret-opera which (if all goes to plan!) will be premiered in February 2015 in a very exciting space.

ITT: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? Did you take it?!

RM: I did some teaching when I lived in Germany, and one of my pupils believed that she had psychic powers and could see into people’s future. On our last lesson she looked very thoughtfully at me and said “when the birds stop singing, run!”. Sometimes when I am in a park or forest, it does pop in to my mind…

ITT: We’ll remember that one! Thanks, Ruth!