‘Performing helped me get through tough times — now I want others to benefit from it’
KATIE HAINBACH credits attending performing-arts lessons as a child as the “most important” thing she has ever done. She is now starting a music school to enable others to benefit in the same way.
Singing and drama were a huge part of Hainbach’s upbringing in Ireland, enabling her to make friends, gain selfbelief, social skills and confidence, as well as the ability to speak in public.
She went on to read classical singing at Leeds College of Music before moving to London to take a masters in vocal performance at the Guildhall School of Music, and working as an opera singer, teacher and head of music at Alyth synagogue.
Hainbach, 36, is now opening a branch of Little Voices singing and drama school in Mill Hill on 16 April, offering after-school lessons and holiday camps for children aged four to 18.
The mother-of-three chose the Little Voices company because of its ethos – that performing arts teach children skills that they can transfer into other areas of their life as they grow up and into adulthood.
“Performing really taught me to be resilient,” says Hainbach, who lives in High Barnet with her husband Tom Morss, a teacher of English as a foreign language and an opera singer; her daughter Leia, four, and her younger brothers, Robin, two, and Dylan, six months. “It taught me how to speak out and manage my anxiety when things are difficult. It improved my language and speaking skills, and taught me how to socialise.”
Most of all, it has helped Hainbach in motherhood, particularly in advocating for Leia, who, as a baby, was diagnosed with a rare mitochondrial disease, which affects her brain, heart, hearing, vision, digestive system and kidneys.
Since Leia was born, Hainbach says the skills she gained through performing arts lessons as a child have helped her immensely, giving her the confidence to speak up for her daughter — and for herself when applying and fighting for therapies, home adaptations, grants and care hours. Leia now attends a school for children with special educational needs full-time. “I’ve had to be her voice in many ways because she’s non-verbal,” says Hainbach. “I really had to be confident in speaking to different professionals and knowing about what care she needs, advocating for her when she’s not getting what she needs or when I don’t think her care has been good enough.”
Singing and drama have also provided Hainbach with a much-needed escape from the challenges of looking after a child with complex needs, while helping to keep her own mental health in check. At the same time, the entire family has benefited; they sing together when things are tough, which, in turn, relieves stress.
“It taught me how to manage my nerves,” she says, recalling the terrifying time that her daughter had to undergo a kidney transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital in July 2022, with her husband donating his own. “They were literally under [general anaesthetic] at the same time in different hospitals, having massive surgeries. I did a lot of breathing work with my little boy and we did lots of singing — it really calmed the nerves.”
Music has also helped Leia, who is supported by Camp Simcha, through her long stints in hospital, when Hainbach would bring a ukulele and play and sing to her daughter. Leia also loves attending music therapy sessions at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice. “She loves music, even the vibration of instruments,” says Hainbach. “It really makes her happy. We put her hand on the guitar and the ukulele. Music has been an absolutely massive part of her life and our life.”
Research has shown that singing is mood-boosting, improves diction and breathing and relieves stress, while drama builds communication, teambuilding and the ability for selfexpression.
Hainbach is looking forward to sharing her skills with children in north London.
“It’s not about putting on a big glitzy show. It’s about the nurturing care that children get in small groups and them being at the heart of everything that we do,” she says.