The Team

Cathy Graham

Cathy is NMC's Executive Director and leads the strategic development of the organisation, working closely with the label’s Creative Director, Eleanor Wilson. The first fourteen years of her career were as a professional musician in Stockholm, working as a vocal coach and repetiteur. Since her return to the UK her roles have included Executive Director of SNPM (Society for the Promotion of New Music), Managing Director of the London Sinfonietta and Director of Music at the British Council. She has served on many boards, including ABO (Association of British Orchestras), ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) and as Chair of Streetwise Opera.

In her free time you’ll find her indulging her passions at concerts and the opera, the theatre, at art galleries, reading – in Swedish and English - and walking, both inside and out of London. She has a great love of all things Scandinavian, particularly nature, food and design. She is a fluent Swedish speaker and is quite capable of speaking Swedish to English friends without noticing it.

Eleanor Wilson

Eleanor (Ellie) Wilson is NMC's Creative Director, responsible for artistic strategy and overseeing the management of the record label. She has been part of the NMC team for 15 years, having previously worked at Hyperion Records. She sits on the BPI Classical Committee and is a regular speaker at industry events and universities.

Born in East London and recently moved to Essex, Ellie enjoys gardening, reading books about nature & psychogeography, making weird noises on her hardanger fiddle, and walking her Boston Terrier, Blixa. She is also a composer and violinist.

Jim Unwin

Before joining NMC as Recordings & Production Manager Jim worked internationally as an independent producer, engineer and editor specialising in classical music. He has worked on an eclectic set of projects ranging from brass septets (Septura) through to a 72 speaker sound installation for a nature reserve (Descanso Gardens, LA). Jim graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music Drama (specialising in clarinet performance) and has an MA in Audio Production for the University of Westminster. Outside of work he enjoys watching various sports, playing chess (quite badly) and running around after his young daughter.

Claire Wright

After graduating from Royal Holloway in Drama and Theatre Studies, Claire worked in West End theatre, and a variety of jobs in the performing arts before becoming General Manager of the contemporary music chamber orchestra Sinfonia 21.She completed a law conversion and pursued a legal career as a solicitor specialising in construction and engineering law.

Returning to the arts she moved into fundraising, working firstly for English National Opera and more recently the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, before joining NMC as Head of Fundraising. Claire enjoys cooking, reading, listening to a wide range of music, learning modern Greek and walking her greedy but cute cavachon.

Stephen Balfour

Stephen is NMC’s Office & Fundraising Co-ordinator, dividing his time between fundraising and office administration. When not working for NMC, he teaches piano in Southwest London in addition to working as a freelance engraver.

After graduating with an MMus degree in Composition from the Royal Academy of Music in 2021, Stephen has worked for London Concertante and MusicFirst, whilst also completing numerous freelance composing, engraving, teaching and performance projects. In his free time, you are most likely to find him out for a run, composing or playing/watching sport.