Norfolk & Norwich Festival Director secures prestigious appointment in Australia
3 Aug 2010
Jonathan Holloway, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival has been appointed Artistic Director of the prestigious Perth International Arts Festival in Australia.
Jonathan will be leaving the organisation in December and moving to Western Australia, where he will be responsible for the artistic direction of four Perth International Arts Festivals, 2012-15, annually each February.
Jonathan has led the Norfolk & Norwich Festival since late 2004, during which time it has seen a transformation in its breadth and scale of activities. As well as its long-standing strength in world-class classical music, jazz and contemporary music the Festival now embraces contemporary dance, circus, burlesque, the visual arts, literary events, a children’s festival and a large programme of free events. The Festival also delivers Creative Partnerships working with more than 15,000 young people year round in more than 45 schools in Norfolk, and Norfolk Open Studios.
Since 2005 the Festival has seen audiences increase from 35,000 to 278,000, turnover increase by over 550% and ticket sales triple to over a third of a million pounds to make it the fourth largest city arts festival in the UK. Artistic highlights have included presenting the UK premiere of Jordi Savall’s Jerusalem; being one of three world cities (London, New York, Norwich) to present Michael Clark’s Stravinsky Project with full orchestra; commissioning/premiering major works from Circa, Jonathan Dove, Les Sept Doigts de la Main, Andy Sheppard, Kurt Perschke, Gwilym Simcock, Ephémère, Arve Henriksen, Joby Talbot, No Fit State Circus, Taylor Mac and Alain Platel; presenting rare UK appearances by John Cale, Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, Dawn Upshaw, Osvaldo Golijov and Teatro de los Sentidos.
Prior to joining the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, Jonathan was head of the Events Department at the National Theatre, one of the four artistic producing departments, working closely with Trevor Nunn and then Nicholas Hytner. He was the founding artistic director/producer of Watch This Space, the National’s acclaimed festival of free international outdoor performance; artistic director of the National’s Festival of Lights, a series of arts and live events exploring multi-cultural London; and was a programmer and producer of children’s theatre, site specific dance and education projects.
Jonathan Holloway said “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as Director of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, guiding it through a period of transition and huge growth. Norwich is a wonderful city filled with amazing people, and both the city and the surrounding area create a tremendous backdrop for the arts. The level of interest and support for cultural activities in the area is fantastic and has enabled the Festival to grow in many directions and appeal to a much wider range of audiences whilst bringing more world premieres, UK premieres and exclusive events to the region. I am now working on the programme for the May 2011 Norfolk & Norwich Festival, which will be my seventh and last, and remain optimistic and excited by the possibilities in the East of England.
“I have always said, casually, that there is only a handful of jobs in the world that I want to do at this time. Perth International Arts Festival in Western Australia, is one of them. It is already one of the world’s great Festivals, and I believe that I can do extraordinary things there, in another of the world’s most beautiful places.”
Caroline Jarrold, Chair of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival Board said “We will be very sorry to see Jonathan leave the Norfolk & Norwich Festival, he has been an inspirational leader, built up a very strong team around him and has brought some extraordinary programming to the city. Under Jonathan the Festival has developed to become a significant national and international arts event, and we are confident that we can maintain that momentum into the future. Jonathan has led the Festival for over six years, which is longer than any of his predecessors, and we can well understand the excitement of his new challenge in Perth. Who knows, Jonathan’s move to Australia might also provide opportunities for more transnational collaborations!”
Recruitment specialist Heather Newill from AEM International has been appointed to steer the process of securing a successor and the Norfolk & Norwich Festival Board hopes to be able to make an announcement in early December. Applications for the post close on 5 November. For more information please contact Heather Newill on 01728 724739 or hnewill@aeminternational.co.uk.
ENDS
For more information, please contact Daisy Turville-Petre, Press & PR Manager, Norfolk & Norwich Festival 01603 878280 or at daisy@nnfestival.org.uk
Norfolk & Norwich Festival
Norfolk & Norwich Festival is the international arts festival for the East of England. The organisation works to harness the transformational power of culture and the arts to engage with audiences and communities throughout the East of England and beyond. It produces NNF, the internationally recognised festival lasting 16 days each May, programming world class music, theatre, dance, circus, visual arts and children’s events and delivers Creative Partnerships, the government’s flagship creative learning programme, in 47 schools in Norfolk and Norfolk Open Studios, one of the UK’s largest and most successful open studios schemes.
Norfolk & Norwich Festival (NNF11) will run from 6-21 May 2011.
Norfolk Open Studios will run from 21 May -5 June 2011.
