The Festival City Theatres Trust, which runs the Festival and King’s Theatres in Edinburgh, has appointed DUNCAN HENDRY as its new Chief Executive. Since 2004 he has been Chief Executive of Aberdeen Performing Arts, with responsibility for His Majesty’s Theatre, the Music Hall and the Lemon Tree. He will take over from Interim Chief Executive PAT WELLER.
ALEX POOTS is to become Artistic Director of New York’s Park Avenue Armory in addition to his role as Festival Director of Manchester International Festival. His new role will facilitate a co-commissioning partnership between MIF and the Armory.
The new Chief Executive at the Octagon Theatre Bolton will be RODDY GAULD, who is currently Director, National Portfolio at Arts Council England where he is responsible for introducing the new national portfolio funding programme. He was previously Administration Manager for Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield.
CASSIE HERSCHEL-SHORLAND and CLARE MOLONEY have joined VocalEyes, the national audio description charity, to extend its work in supporting museums, galleries and heritage sites to make the visual arts more accessible. Their posts result from new funding from The City Bridge Trust and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
TONY HALL, who has been Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House since 2001, has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the Channel 4 Board, succeeding LORD PUTTNAM. He joined the Board in 2005.
KATE HORTON is to leave her role as the Executive Director of the Royal Court. She will be joining the National Theatre as Deputy Executive Director in the spring. Artistic Director DOMINIC COOKE will also leave the Royal Court in 2013 to focus on freelance work. Horton and Cooke have worked together for four years.
WESLEY IRWIN PAUL will be the new Chair of the Royal Armouries. Irwin Paul is currently Chairman of a private equity and financing firm. He is also a keen art and antique arms and armour collector.
MARY CLOAKE has stepped down as Director of Arts Council Ireland after seven years. She will be taking up the position of Chief Executive at Bluecoat, Liverpool in 2012.
Cambridge Corn Exchange has appointed DAN SCHUMANN as its new Creative Programmer.
British conductor MARTYN BRABBINS is to become Chief Conductor of the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra, Japan. He will continue his role of Principal Guest Conductor at the Royal Flemish Philharmonic.
A new Scottish, creative ageing festival has appointed ANNE GALLACHER as its Festival Director. Gallacher has been working as a freelance arts consultant for a range of organisations including Salisbury International Arts Festival.
SAMANTHA TYE is joining the Nuffield Theatre as its new Press Officer. She is taking over from TAMSIN WITHERS who has held the post for four years.
EMILY SPEED and ANNABEL TILLEY have been elected to the council of AIR, a professional body for visual and applied artists.
Southbank Centre has announced its senior music programming appointments, following the resignation of MARSHALL MARCUS as Head of Music. JANE BEESE has been promoted to become Head of Contemporary Music and GILLIAN MOORE has been appointed Head of Classical Music.
Tate Liverpool has appointed FRANCESCO MANACORDA as its new Artistic Director. He succeeds CHRISTOPH GRUNENBERG and will leave his current role as Director of Artissima to join the gallery in April 2012.
Painter, printer and sculptor CHRISTOPHER LE BRUN has become the 26th President of the Royal Academy of Arts. He is the first painter to be elected to the presidency in almost 20 years and succeeds SIR NICHOLAS GRIMSHAW.
LESLEY WAKE, Chief Operating Officer at Arts & Business, is to join The Henry Moore Foundation as its new Chief Operating Officer.
The Board of Trustees of the Kröller-Müller Museum has announced that LISETTE PELSERS is to become the Director of the museum. She takes over from EVERT VAN STRAATEN, who retires in April.
LAURIE PIPER has been appointed to the position of Head of Marketing & Communications at High Life Highland. He leaves Eden Court after four years as Marketing Manager.
REBECCA FITTON will be stepping in as Marketing Coordinator at Mid Pennine Arts. She is covering PHILIPPA RODDAM who is going on maternity leave.
Executive Producer for physical theatre company Gecko, KATE SPARSHATT has been appointed as Executive Director of Plymouth Arts Centre. She was previously a consultant in business planning and management, and has worked for Tate Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, DCMS, HiPACT (Nigeria) and University of Plymouth.
Northern School of Contemporary Dance has appointed JANET SMITH as its new Principal. Artistic Director at Scottish Dance Theatre for the past 15 years, she previously worked at Bretton Hall College and London School of Contemporary Dance, and for many vocational schools and dance companies.
ADRIAN ELLIS, who has been executive director at Jazz at Lincoln Center since 2007, will leave his post in January to return to work for the arts consultancy company he founded in 1990, AEA Consulting. He will continue to act as a special adviser to the Jazz at Lincoln Center board.
After over five years as General Manager of Town Hall Birmingham, SIMON WALES will be taking up a new post as Head of Engagement & Discovery at Waddesdon Manor, one of the National Trust’s most visited properties, which is managed by The Rothschild Foundation.
JULIA HALLAWELL is leaving her role as Press & Media Relations Officer at the Society Of London Theatre to join the press department at Shakespeare's Globe.
King’s College London has appointed DEBORAH BULL as Director of King’s Cultural Partners, a cross-disciplinary teaching and research initiative that focuses on innovative collaboration across the cultural sector. Since 2008 she has been Creative Director of the Royal Opera House.
JULIA TURPIN has joined IOU Theatre as its new General Manager/Producer. Her previous experience includes work as Executive Producer for Quarantine and Director of Contact Theatre's international exchange project for young people.
SIMI OBRA is the new Marketing & PR Officer for South Asian arts agency sampad, taking over from LORNA HIRST, who has joined Greenwich Dance as Marketing and Communications Manager.
Playwright MARK RAVENHILL will join the RSC in January on a twelve month contract as the Company's Writer in Residence. The residency is supported by a grant from the Columbia Foundation.
MICHAEL EAKIN, former Regional Executive Director of Arts Council England North West and currently Chief Executive of Liverpool Philharmonic, has been elected as Chair of the Association of British Orchestras. He replaces SIMON TAYLOR who has left the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra to run the National Concert Hall, Dublin. Four new board members join the board: Four new Directors were also elected to the Board. MICK ELLIOTT, new Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra; SIMON FUNNELL, Managing Director of London Mozart Players; PETER HELPS, Chief Executive of Derby’s sinfonia ViVA; and ANNA ROWE, Chief Executive of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
CHRISTINA COKER, who led Youth Music since it was founded in 1999, has announced that she will not be applying for a role within the restructured organisation.
HARRIET FINNEY has been appointed to the newly created role of Press and Public Affairs Officer at the Music Publishers Association. She previously worked as Head of Communications for Chrysalis, the music publishing and commercial radio group and before that was in investment banking.
The new Venue Manager at Canterbury’s Gulbenkian Theatre is ALAN FOX, who previously worked in the Customer Relations Department at the Royal Albert Hall. Prior to that he was a General Manager for Mecca Bingo.
Chairman of the Henry Moore Foundation and former Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, DUNCAN ROBINSON is the new Chairman of the Cambridge & County Folk Museum.
MATTHEW ROOKE, formerly Group Director for the Scottish Arts Council and co-director of Scottish Cultural Enterprise will be the new Chief Executive and Artistic Director of The Maltings Theatre & Cinema in Berwick-upon-Tweed. He takes over from DR MILES GREGORY.
KATE BRYAN is joining The Fine Art Society as Head of Contemporary. Most recently she has been Gallery Director at The Cat Street Gallery in Hong Kong, and prior to that she worked at the British Museum.