Jane Beese has the enviable job of Head of Music at the Roundhouse. She tells us how she got it.
Roundhouse (September 2015)
I officially took up my post of Head of Music at the Roundhouse in September, although I spent some time here in a very under-the-radar manner during the summer. I’ve wanted to work here for a very long time so it was a great feeling to finally land six weeks ago. I started working at my previous organisation – the Southbank – in 2000 and coming to a different organisation after fifteen years was potentially daunting but I felt, and was made to feel, immediately at home.
There are various strands to my role and the aims of the music team. Firstly there’s the choreography of the gigs diary and the work with the promoters to bring up to 90 shows a year to the Roundhouse. Then there’s the work we produce and programme ourselves within festivals and series including Rising, Voices Now and In The Round – a new intimate series of shows I’ve just finished programming in early 2016.
One of the many reasons I wanted to work here was the Paul Hamlyn Roundhouse Studios and the work we do with young people and emerging artists. It’s an incredibly inspiring and energetic place. To walk through the studios on a daily basis is a constant source of positivity for me, seeing all these young musicians, poets, artists and performers as they start out on their careers in the creative industries.
I’m surrounded by music fans, not just in the music team but across the organisation and this is really going to keep me on my toes. It makes it an energetic, passionate and fascinating place to work. The venue itself is so iconic and holds such an important place in London and the UK’s rich music history and I feel very privileged to be part of that story moving forward.
Southbank Centre (2000 – 2015)
My first role at the Southbank was as the Event Co-ordinator for Contemporary Music. I went on to become Senior Music Programmer and then Head of Contemporary Music. It was an incredible and memorable fifteen years and I take away from that time many friends and indelible memories.
My Event Co-ordinator role involved a lot of logistics. I worked with all the different departments and stakeholders to make sure that performances and festivals came together cohesively. The first Meltdown I worked on was with Robert Wyatt in 2001 and still remains one of my favourite experiences.
Over the years we worked with artists including Patti Smith, David Bowie, Morrissey, New York Dolls, Jarvis Cocker, Lee Scratch Perry, Arthur Lee, Brian Wilson, Ornette Coleman, Goldie, James Lavelle, Yoko Ono, Ray Davies, Jon Hopkins, Matthew Herbert, Laura Marling, Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood – although sadly not together – Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, Josh Homme, DJ Harvey, PJ Harvey and so many more.
I have too many amazing memories from the Southbank to name them all. I stayed on until the end of David Byrne’s Meltdown in August, which was a really extraordinary festival to work on and an extremely pleasurable finale to an amazing fifteen years.
Booking agencies: 13 Artists (1998 – 2000); ITB (1994 – 1998); Asgard (1992 – 1994)
I spent the first ten years of my working life at booking agencies. Firstly as the receptionist at Asgard, where I used to look forward to three callers in particular: Christy Moore, Vicki Wickham and Phil ‘The Mangler’ Kaufman. From Asgard I moved onto working with Charlie Myatt at ITB as his assistant. I landed there pretty much as Radiohead released ‘OK Computer’ so that remains another very special time for me. Charlie and I left ITB to set up 13 Artists in a wonderful little office on Langham Street, and from there I moved onto the Southbank when the role of Event Co-ordinator came up.
One thing I found frustrating being an agent’s assistant – apart from the obvious glass ceiling at the time – was working on events right up until the day of the show and then having little involvement on the day. The move into venues solved that one for me.
Jane Beese is Head of Music at the Roundhouse.
www.roundhouse.org.uk
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