Welcome
Chief Executive
Candidate information
Thank you for your interest in this outstanding opportunity. Sound and Music is a wonderful charity, with an exceptionally motivated and talented team, and our work is incredibly valuable – not only to those we support directly, but also in contributing to a wider ecosystem in which music and sound creation can thrive and enrich people’s lives.
The vitality of new music is essential to reflect who we are in the present, and provide a creative response and cultural dimension to the times in which we live. My Sound and Music colleague Sonia Stevenson recently wrote: “Imagine a world without music. Unthinkable. Now imagine a world without new music…”.
As the UK’s national organisation for new music, we are profoundly aware of our responsibility to use this very special status to achieve things that no other organisation is set up to do. Our programmes enable composers to progress their careers, young people to create their own music, and showcase new music. Our success over the past fifteen years has been achieved through the development of a unique culture, an open and nurturing strategic approach, and a breadth of professional expertise which isn’t to be found anywhere else. As Chief Executive you will have the opportunity to build on these achievements, and to help shape the direction of new music in the UK.
We know that the landscape for music making is constantly evolving, and we need to continue our role as an engaged participant in this exciting new pluralism. The creation of new music and sound has always been in fruitful dialogue with technological, creative, and conceptual developments in wider society, and we want to make sure that we remain as nimble and inventive as ever in our response. And where we should be leading change, we must ensure that we do so with agility and inspiration.
My colleagues and I are looking to meet candidates who appreciate the potential of new music and who recognise its unique power to move and connect people; who understand the complex system in which we operate; and who have a keen and entrepreneurial eye for emerging opportunities. Our collective task is to secure the health and flourishing of a vital, restless artform, and you will play a vital part in our continued success.
We are being supported in this appointment by Cadence Partners, and you are warmly encouraged to contact them for an informal discussion. The closing date for applications is 6 March, and I look forward to meeting you.
