Talk Voice 2025: Heather Knott & Gemma Maddock

Behind the Mix: Working with your West End Sound Engineer

Sunday 31st August 2025, 5pm - 6:30pm

Join acclaimed West End Sound Engineer Heather Knott for an exclusive evening exploring the crucial relationship between vocal performance and microphone technology. Drawing from her work mixing hit shows like Matilda, Frozen, Stereophonic, and The Band's Visit, Heather will share what sound engineers need from performers to achieve optimal results.

This event is particularly valuable for voice and vocal coaches working with musical theatre performers. Heather will discuss how different mic placements and sound mixing techniques can enhance or challenge a performer's vocal delivery, and how vocal coaches can prepare their students and clients for the technical demands of amplified performance, from body pack microphones to optimal vocal techniques.

Following her presentation, Heather will be joined by voice coach Gemma Maddock for a discussion on the collaborative relationship between sound engineers, coaches and performers. They'll explore practical considerations for coaches, and the communication between sound engineers and coaches and performers during rehearsals and performances.

The evening concludes with an audience Q&A session, offering direct insights from one of the industry's most accomplished professionals.

TALK VOICE is an online lecture series about the speaking voice - how it works and what to do when it doesn’t: how it communicates, how to take care of it, how to enhance its performance and effectiveness. The Talk Voice series offers a range of presenters - providers of specialist therapy, treatment and surgery, vocal coaches, professional voice users and those who’ve suffered voice issues. Our speakers so far have included Mark Mardell, Polly Evans, Dr. Nikos Spantideas, Dr. Tom Harris, Barbara Houseman, D’Arcy Smith and many more."

Heather Knott trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and she has been working as a Theatre Sound Engineer since 2014. Her career has spanned a wide range of productions, from Samuel Beckett to Jack Thorne via Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Her work includes mixing established West End musicals such as Matilda, Frozen, School of Rock and Jersey Boys. She has also programmed and created the mixes for many new productions, notably Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, Stereophonic, The Band’s Visit and Groundhog Day.

She has headed up sound departments in the West End, in producing theatres, and on national & international tours. She was the Associate Sound Designer for The Artist in its world premiere production at Theatre Royal Plymouth, and the Assistant Sound Designer for Spitting Image: Idiots Assemble in its original staging at Birmingham Rep.

She was awarded the title of ‘Breakthrough Front Of House Engineer’ at the 2018 Pro Sound Awards, and since 2023 she has been a regular mentor for students of the Sound Design & Production BA course at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Gemma Maddock is a professional voice coach, an experienced educator in Higher education settings, as well as head of department. She has been fortunate enough to work with renowned professionals on some legendary stages, as well as teach at some highly regarded Acting schools over the last ten years in the UK.

She is currently the Head of Voice at Oxford School of Drama, Co-Program Leader of the MFA Linklater Teaching Practice (Voice & Theatre Arts) at Rose Bruford, as well as co-chair of the British Voice Association’s Educational Working Party. Recent places of work include: RADA, the Collective Acting Studio and the Higher Education Department at Shakespeare’s Globe. Gemma has also previously taught at leading drama schools, including; Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, LAMDA, Mountview and Arts Ed. 

Some of her recent professional theatre voice coaching credits include; Operation Mincemeat (Southwark Playhouse & West End) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Covent Garden- Actors Church) Trouble in Butetown, Love and Other Acts of Violence and Force Majeure (Donmar Warehouse) Matilda The Musical (West End & UK Tour); Strictly Ballroom (West Yorkshire Playhouse & West End), The Railway Children & In The Heights (Kings Cross Theatre).

Cancellation policy for a BVA event

In the event an applicant cancels their place at a BVA course or conference, they are entitled to the following refund:

• 4 weeks or more = 90% refund
• Between 4 -1 weeks = 25% refund
• From 1 week to the day of event = no refund (under any circumstances, including illness)

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Should the BVA cancel a course, a full refund will be offered.