Fast growing event design and technical production company Maestra London expands its team again with three new staff.
Leonie Cumisky joins as PA and Office Manager, Paul Hayes jumps on-board as Assistant Technical Manager and Frank Uhl is the new Warehouse Manager.
Says Maestra London Director Justin Hammond, “We’ve had a fantastic year and it’s very exciting to strengthen the team with more excellent personnel. Leonie, Paul and Frank come from a diversity of backgrounds and their dynamics, vitality and excellent personalities will be a great asset to our collective vision and goals”.
They will all be settled in ahead of an action-packed autumn season for Maestra’s operations in the UK and Middle East.
Leonie Cumiskey
Leonie’s double role of Office Manager and PA to Justin will keep her busy and energised! She will be assisting Justin as well as co-ordinating workflow and generally ensuring that Maestra remains an interesting and creative workspace where everyone can flourish and feel good.
She will also be helping out on-the-ground at certain events as well as handling the HR elements and managing the company’s social media channels.
Leonie graduated from Goldsmith’s College, London, with a BA in Media & Modern Literature and previously worked for over three years as Office Manager for a leading UK design practice. Prior to that, she freelanced in the worlds of advertising and digital media.
Leonie works well under pressure and is also multi-skilled, both attributes ideally suited for the environment and brisk pace at Maestra, where deadlines are critical and nothing stays still for long!
The company’s “hugely impressive” project portfolio attracted her to the post and she also got great feelings from everyone she met during the interview process. Leonie is looking forward to a positive and proactive future at Maestra.
In her own time, she loves travelling, enjoying music and gigs and visiting art exhibitions.
Paul Hayes
Paul’s previous work experience includes gaining a degree in Music Production & Business at the University of Westminster and since has worked freelance for a number of different event and technical production companies and music venues, honing his technical skills.
In the Maestra role of Assistant Technical Manager, he will be supporting the Senior Technical Management team on the larger projects, covering a wide range of technical areas, which will include producing technical specifications and delivering them on site.
He enjoys challenges and brain-teasers which come with this, especially those requiring an inventive and lateral approach … one of the many assets making him a perfect match for Maestra.
In addition to bringing a wealth of technical knowledge and hands-on experience from working on music events over the last five years, Paul enjoys multi-tasking, being organised and working as part of a motivated team.
He’s followed Maestra from their high profile launch in January 2016 and having seen the success, was delighted of the chance to join the team “so I can grow with it”.
In his spare time he loves climbing, reading, listening to music and going to gigs.
Frank Uhl
Frank takes on the major responsibility of Warehouse Manager; a demanding, fast-moving and often pressured environment at Maestra.
His truly international background includes being brought up in Germany, Italy and France and as a result, he is quadrilingual – fluent in all these associated languages … plus – naturally – English!
Frank attended a Jazz conservatoire in France after which he completed a BA in Music Performance in London and then focused on audio and music production. He’s also taught world music production and digital drumming at West Herts College.
Immediately before joining Maestra, he worked as Warehouse & Events Manager at another central London company, overseeing the equipment stock, tech’ing and maintaining kit, training new employees and managing events.
The fact that Maestra is so closely related to his passion for music, sound, lighting and video attracted him to the job, for which he is looking forward to working in a highly collaborative atmosphere where communication is a key role to properly sharing experience and knowledge.
Frank brings plenty of enthusiasm and some excellent technical know-how to the company and coming from a musical and events background, he has a good understanding of the industry and the dedication needed to produce world class shows.
When not working hard, Frank is still very much an active talented musician – he plays as a drummer in bands, produces music for various artists and also writes his own music. When he can fit it in … he also enjoys travelling, reading and discovering new cultures and culinary experiences!
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