Ian Mann

Ian was a teacher of Drama and English to A level for forty years, culminating in the post of Director of Drama at an independent school.  During that time, he was a drama and theatre studies senior examiner for GCSE and A level for several awarding bodies.

Since taking retirement, he examines worldwide for LAMDA examinations, and, when time allows, leads drama classes on cruise ships.

Ian is very much looking forward to adjudicating at the festival and seeing some of the talent on offer in Northern Ireland.

Jayne Buchanan

Jayne is multi-faceted practitioner, passionate about dramatic art and has trained as an adult actor with Jim Cartwright and Karen Henthorn.  In addition to a BA in Theatre and Performance, she has a MA in Applied and Community Arts and is a practising Speech and Drama Teacher who works in both the public and private sector teaching a wide variety of ages and levels.  As well as holding an examinership with the prestigious LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), Jayne also adjudicates at Speech and Drama Festivals across the UK and is General Secretary of The Society of Teachers of Speech and Drama.  

Jayne has produced and directed many productions, working with both children and adults.  Ever busy, Jayne still enjoys performing and is currently in the final stages of co-writing a musical for its 2026 premiere.  She is very much looking forward to adjudicating at Lagan Festival and watching all the talented performers shine. 

Beate Toyka

Beate Toyka is a successful and highly experienced Anglo-German piano performer, teacher and communicator. She graduated from Cologne Conservatoire and then undertook postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Beate regularly plays concertos with UK Midlands orchestras, as well as further afield, especially in her native Germany. These include all 5 Beethoven concertos, and concertos by Brahms, Schumann, Grieg, Tchaikovsky and Ravel. Elsewhere in Europe, she has performed in France, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. In Africa, she has performed in Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, often under the auspices of the Goethe Institute.
Aside from solo performance Beate delights in the teamwork of chamber music with her Mercian Piano Trio, and accompaniment. She has been coach and accompanist for Nottingham University Music School. She has a particular interest in multi-piano playing, and formed the Derby Piano Quartet, with 4 pianists, 8 hands on 2 pianos.
Beate teaches at every level and adjudicates nationwide. She was on the staff of the International Piano Summer Music School at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester. She has been principal tutor for the Piano Teachers Course UK, at the Purcell School in Bushey, London.
Beate serves on the National Management Committee of EPTA, the European Piano Teachers Association; she also runs the Derby Teachers’ EPTA group.
To make them accessible to the learner, Beate is currently recording, with spoken introductions and technical hints, all of Bach’s Preludes and Fugues of the ‘Well Tempered Clavier’. The project is called ‘Step into the 48’ and is available on the Piano Online Academy. Her youtube channel is beatetoyka9281