Educated at Sheffield University and the Royal Northern College of Music where she studied singing, piano, and violin, Vivien has been involved with the festival movement since the age of 7: as a performer, a Festival Music Administrator and a General Adjudicator for the British and International Federation of Festivals for over 30 years with much experience in solo singing and choirs. She is passionate about the value of the opportunities that Festivals present for all performers and has visited and revisited many festivals both here and abroad as adjudicator and also to lead choral workshops and solo singing masterclasses.
Vivien enjoyed a solo career as a soprano and conducted a female choir for 30 years who were winners in many national and international festivals, leading to tours and exchanges with choirs in Europe, Australia, Canada, USA and Scandinavia. A Churchill Fellowship in 2001 enabled her to study solo and choral singing in Sweden, Finland and Estonia and to lecturing internationally in Latvia, Slovenia, New Zealand, Ireland, and as a visiting professor to the Estonian Academy of Music in Tallinn.
She has been a national council member for both the Association of Teachers of Singing and the Association of British Choral Directors and has twice been the Artistic Director of ABCD National Conventions. She is also a Master Teacher for the AOTOS Teacher Training Summer School.
Vivien is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was honoured to be awarded a Fellowship of the British and International Federation of Festivals in 2013.