Midsumma Festival appoints Karen Bryant as new CEO

Midsumma Karen Bryant Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival has announced that after an extensive search the Board has appointed Karen Bryant as the first Chief Executive Officer to lead the festival through its 30th Anniversary.

“We intend to grow the Midsumma’s LGBTIQ arts and culture program to ensure it is multidimensional and truly world class; in both quality of events and quantity, offering our diverse community of aspiring artists greater opportunities than ever before to have their work seen and their voice heard,” said John Caldwell, Chairman Midsumma Festival.

“Ms Bryant is without a doubt the perfect person to lead Midsumma to new heights and work alongside our unbelievably supportive and talented community to deliver them the Festival that they deserve now and into the future. We are confident that Ms Bryant will add value to local independent artists and established professionals alike.”

Ms Bryant has most recently been Chief Executive of the Adelaide Festival of Arts successfully transforming Australia’s premier international festival from a biennial into an annual event. Prior to that Ms Bryant was Associate Director and Head of Programming at the Adelaide Festival Centre and has also been involved with a number of important cultural boards and committees including being a peer arts advisor for both the Federal Ministry of the Arts, and the Australia Council for the Arts.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be joining Midsumma at this time. I am looking forward to working with the Board, artists, the community and the festival team to firmly cement Midsumma’s position as a major cultural event on the national calendar,”, said Ms Bryant.

Ms Bryant will relocate from Adelaide to Melbourne and will be welcomed into the Midsumma office in July, just in time for the 2016 Midwinta Ball, Midsumma Festival’s largest fundraiser.

The 2017 Midsumma Festival runs: 15 January – 5 February. For more information, visit: www.midsumma.org.au for details.

Image: Karen Bryant