Edinburgh Fringe Director Jon Morgan, previously Executive Producer at Contact in Manchester and before that General Manager at TAG Theatre Company, has stepped down from his role after 15 months in post. His departure follows highly publicised problems with the Fringe’s box office system, and the announcement that ticket sales for 2008 had fallen by 10%.
Journalist and broadcaster John Kampfner (pictured), former Editor of the New Statesman, has been appointed Chair of the Turner Contemporary Operating Trust. This appointment is the first step in establishing the £17.4m Margate-based visual arts organisation as an independent charitable trust.
Theatre Royal Winchester has appointed Caroline Vale to the role of Education Assistant. She joins the team from Leeds University.
Adam Annand has left Half Moon Young People’s Theatre to join London Bubble Theatre Company as Associate Director, Creative Learning. Shipra Ogra, previously Projects Co-ordinator, takes up the newly created post of Producer, and Jonathan Petherbridge takes on the role of chief executive in the post of Creative Director.
Cheryl Bennett (pictured), Arts Development Manager for the Melbourn Village College area in Cambridgeshire, is moving to Youth Dance England as Regional Strategy Manager (East) based at The Junction in Cambridge.
Steve Wenham, who previously worked for the Learning Skills Council, has been appointed Director of MusicLeader East Midlands, and Erika Scotto is the new Director of MusicLeader West Midlands. She was an Arts Development Officer and replaces former Director, Baz Chapman, who has left to take the role of Programme Director for Sing Up.
Formerly Director of Community Music Wales and currently a trustee of the Arts Council of Wales, Simon Dancey is joining Creative & Cultural Skills as Wales Director. He will be responsible for implementing an action plan to address the future skills and training needs of the creative workforce in Wales.
Neil Bennison (pictured) has joined the Royal Centre, Nottingham, as its Classical Music Manager.
Ali Fowler (pictured) will become Administrative Producer for Sheffield Theatres in the autumn. Currently Assistant Producer, in her new role she will manage the theatre’s own productions and visiting companies.
Melissa Gerbaldi has left her job as Senior Press and Media Relations Officer at Richmond Theatre to become an Account Manager at Arthur Leone PR. She is replaced by Charlotte Twining, who has previously worked as a press assistant at Windsor Arts Centre.
Activate dance and theatre development agency has appointed Rosalind Conlon (pictured) and Aurore Le Quere (pictured) to the post of Dance Development Co-ordinator. Rosalind has been a freelance dance artist in Northampton and Aurore was previously marketing assistant at the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Following a major award from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, g39 gallery, a Cardiff-based artist-led organisation that works with emerging visual artists in Wales, has appointed Sean Edwards to manage a new three-year programme of professional support for artists.
Two new members of staff have joined the National Campaign for the Arts: Edwina Vine, a Campaigns Associate from the Cultural Leadership Programme, who will to lead a project examining local government policy and funding of the arts, and Simon Cole, who replaces Shelley Ayliffe as Membership and Office Manager.