Karen Brock

What's next? Living with the National Music Plan

Karen Brock is the Head of the Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Service (THAMES).

She has taught music at all levels as well as having been an Advisory Teacher, Senior Manager for the Hampshire Music Service and County Music Adviser for East Sussex. In 1998 she was seconded to be Principal Officer for Music at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) where she contributed to the development of the National Curriculum 2000. In 2005 she moved to Tower Hamlets create a music and arts service from scratch.

She was an OfSTED Inspector and Additional Inspector (AI) and worked with HMI on the OfSTED Inspection of Music Services. She has spoken at numerous national conferences and contributed to a number of publications including 'Opus' (Heinemann). She has also provided education advice for Channel 4 including Howard Goodall's Big Bangs and Great Dates and Glyndebourne's filmed youth opera Zoe.

She has been Principal Examiner for a GCSE in Expressive Arts and an Assessor for Artsmark. As well as serving on the Executive of the National Association of Music Educators (NAME) she was recently elected as Vice Chair of the UK's Music Education Council (MEC). She is currently Chair of the GLA Music Education Steering Group for London as well as a Board member for the LSO Education Advisory Committee and Spitalfields Music.

She plays the oboe and cor anglais, is an experienced orchestral player and was also a founder member of the Somerset Youth Orchestra.