Donna Schooling spent the majority of her musical career helping to create music in Havering. Born in Harold Wood, Donna’s infant school teacher, Mrs. Lindo, advised her parents to put her forward for violin lessons when she moved up to junior school. Donna had a natural talent as a violinist and quickly progressed to leading her school orchestras before joining Havering Youth Sinfonia at the age of 10. She soon became the leader of Havering Youth Sinfonia and later Havering Youth Orchestra. Upon leaving school, Donna decided to join the workforce rather than attend university, and she eventually joined the Havering Concert Orchestra, taking over the mantle of Leader in Autumn 1999. She led the orchestra until 2014 and still plays with us.
Donna was an active leader, and her leadership style was described as very much “open door.” She wrote and produced the concert programmes and was involved in the HCO website development. She also tackled solo parts that other leaders had shied away from, such as Scheherazade (Autumn 2000), and was delighted to play the Bach Double Concerto in her final concert as leader. Donna is now usually seen by the ticket desk, leading our front-of-house team, so do say hello.
Outside of her musical activities, Donna lives with her partner Paul and is mummy to cat Miranda. She is a Business Agility Lead for Lloyds Banking Group. She enjoys travel, including trips to Egypt and Russia (with Graeme! Ed: who is now our Chairman and Principla Cello), and further afield to Australia to visit family. She also enjoys reading and going to the theatre.
Donna now works part-time at the bank, allowing her time to pursue a degree with the Open University in Arts & Humanities.
Last updated 4 June 2024.