Phoene Cave (BMus Hons, PGDip MT, MA) is an HCPC registered music therapist, creative project manager, singer, trainer and supervisor. Phoene has spent two decades working with a range of diverse communities in nurseries, schools, further and higher education, con cert halls, social housing, care homes, hospitals, a detention centre and prison.
Phoene worked for many years in the record and television industries at A&M Records and Hat-Trick Productions and had a successful parallel career as a professional jazz and pop singer, touring and doing session work.
In 2000 Phoene moved into education and private vocal coaching, becoming head of the vocal team at Richmond Music Trust, managing a team of peripatetic singing teachers and delivering singing lessons and training to teachers across primary and secondary schools.
She started singing for breathing, a project for people with chronic lung conditions at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London in 2008 which led to her becoming a world specialist in Singing for Lung Health. She also set up groups at the Whittington and Charing Cross hospitals.
As Head of Music Services for Nordoff Robbins, Phoene managed a large team of music therapists, creating strategic development, increasing partnerships and income and setting up a large inclusive community choir. Between 2008 and 2016 Phoene also set up and ran three other community choirs in Teddington, Sunbury and Roehampton respectively.
In 2014, she spent two years delivering music therapy with female offenders at HMP & YOI Bronzefield, then with children and young people at Eggtooth, and for young asylum seeker at the Enthum Foundation.
Phoene is also the Director of The Musical Breath which provides high quality training and workshops in Singing For Lung Health and creative toolkits for allied health professionals.
“Phoene Cave is an excellent trainer and singing leader. Her knowledge of the whole body, its relationship to the breath, and balance of energy is profound”
Gillyanne Kayes. Author, researcher and vocal consultant
In March 2020 when Covid hit, she moved all her face-to-face Singing for Lung Health training online and by June 2024 she had trained 300+ facilitators worldwide and been involved and published in RCTs and NIHR funded feasibility studies.
In 2021 she moved to another award winning strategic role funded by NHS England as the arts therapies placements development lead at East London NHS Foundation Trust increasing the reach and breadth of arts therapies students resulting in 12 new placements beyond adult secondary care.
Phoene has been commissioned as a practitioner, trainer, supervisor or consultant by multiple high level arts and educational organisations including:
Surrey Arts, Imperial college London, Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Hayward Gallery, Live Music Now, British Lung Foundation, rb&h Arts, Breathe AHR, Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, Sing up!, Trinity Guildhall, Royal Festival Hall, Roehampton University, Wandsworth Council Arts service, Richmond Upon Thames Childrens’ service, British Association of Music therapy, Anvil Basingstoke, Sound Connections, Soundcastle, Wishing Well, Rockschool
In February 2024 Phoene was Creative Producer and Lead Artist on an Arts Council funded project, developing a new cross arts creative collective. www.transitcollective.org. This was part of the Eastbourne Alive celebration of the town hosting the Turner prize. This gave Phoene a taste for performance again after many years of giving others a voice. She is currently developing her work in this area whilst still supervising reflective practice for artists and musicians working in challenging situations, educating and informing medical and nursing students and allied health professionals, care home and hospice staff of the power of creative toolkits to support health and wellbeing and continuing to deliver her groundbreaking Musical Breath training on Body, Breath and Voice.