David Newsholme is Director of Music at Canterbury Cathedral, where he is responsible for training the Cathedral’s choirs, and for all other musical aspects of the Cathedral’s work.

David was educated as a chorister at Worcester Cathedral. He held the organ scholarship at Salisbury Cathedral before studying at New College, Oxford, and at the University of York.

David was Assistant Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College, before moving to Canterbury in 2011 to become Assistant Organist (Assistant Director of Music). In 2014 he became founding Director of the Cathedral Girls’ Choir, before taking up his current post in 2021.

Jo Pearsall is Music Administrator at Canterbury Cathedral, and assists with communications, planning and events.

Originally from Staffordshire, Jo read history at the University of Kent, and has stayed in and around Canterbury ever since.

A soprano and violinist, Jo can often be found singing in local chamber choirs and playing in ensembles, including the University of Kent Symphony Orchestra.

Helen Brookes is Singing Partnerships Lead at the Cathedral. Originally from Stroud, Gloucester, Helen gained a first class honours degree in Performing Arts (Music, Dance and Drama) before studying postgraduate singing at the Royal College of Music. A versatile mezzo soprano, experienced in singing a wide range of styles, she has performed opera and oratorio as a soloist and ensemble member with English Touring Opera, Almeida Opera, Les Musiciens du Louvre, and English Concert, as well as rock and pop vocals for Florence and the Machine, Sting, Take That, and symphonic heavy metal group Nightwish. She has sung with many of the leading vocal ensembles (Tenebrae, Dunedin Consort, Gabrieli Consort, Eric Whitacre Singers, BBC Singers) and appears on numerous film soundtracks including Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Interstellar and the Kung Fu Pandas.

Helen is especially passionate about music in education and, as a music specialist teacher and firm believer that everyone can (and should!) sing, leads workshops, projects and training for children and adults to do just that. She has worked as musicianship tutor for the National Youth Choir Boys and Cambiata Choirs, is music lead at Bridge and Patrixbourne Primary School in Canterbury and St Eanswythe's School in Folkestone; Director of the Royal Greenwich and Blackheath Halls Youth Choirs, leader of Kent Music's Folkestone Junior Choir and founder of the ‘FESI Choir’ - a Folkestone based group providing opportunities for enthusiastic young singers from local primary schools to join together, have fun (biscuits and silly voice warm ups feature heavily!), and perform to a wider audience. She is immensely proud to have been appointed as the first Singing Partnerships Lead at the Cathedral and is looking forward to the exciting challenge of bringing high quality music-making to an even wider range of budding young singers throughout the Diocese of Canterbury.