I started working in the music industry in 2007 in the music department of The British Council in London. After working there for a while, my colleague recommended I apply to join her partner’s team at IMG Artists. I ended up working there as an agent’s assistant in the classical music department and stayed at IMG Artists for a few years in various roles. I really wanted to travel with my job, so being in my early to mid-20s and wanting to make things happen for myself, I went to the Managing Director (an amazing female agent in the classical music industry) and asked her if I could help out at the Tuscan Sun Festival in Italy. She told me that they didn’t have any spots, but that they did need people to help out on the Abu Dhabi Festival. That is how I started working on festivals. I worked on the Abu Dhabi Festival for 3 years and I did end up working on the Tuscan Sun Festival in Florence as well in the end. I moved over to the touring department and, as well as the festivals, toured orchestras all over Europe including the Australian Chamber Orchestra. When I decided to make the move to Australia to live with my brother out here, I contacted the ACO and was lucky enough to work and get sponsored by them so I could stay in Australia. I had an amazing 4.5 years at the ACO, managing their education program and touring their regional orchestra all over Australia but my real passion was in contemporary music and festivals and so, when this role at the Sydney Opera House came up, it truly felt like it was meant to be. I can’t believe this is now my 7th year as Festival Producer in the Contemporary Music team at SOH.

It’s always been my passion, I had actually wanted to be a singer and perform from when I was very young. I was trying to make this happen when I was living in London in my early 20s and could just see how tough it was going to be. I also couldn’t afford all the singing lessons and dance classes I was putting on my credit card, so I made a choice to step away from that path. I made a deal with myself that, if I wasn’t going to be the one performing, then I was at least going to work in the subject matter of my passion and be around music all the time. I feel so fortunate to work in an industry I love.

I think it really depends on the kind of job you want to do or what career you want. It certainly helped me get my foot in the door at my first job out of university, but I didn’t study anything to do with music! I went to uni because I felt it would help me on my journey but I also had an incredible 3 years where I learnt a lot about myself and life. I have lifelong friends from the experience, so I would recommend it if it’s accessible to you. 

I feel proud that I’ve made things happen for myself in my career on my own and I learnt very early on that if you want something in life, you really have to go and ask for it. Nobody knows what you want, or what you’re looking for, unless you explicitly say and ask for it. I asked to travel with my job and it set my career on the path it is now. When I moved to Australia I was on a tourist visa and it was 1 month away from expiring before I would have had to move back to England. I was out here contacting everyone I know in the industry, going for coffees all over the place, going for job interviews and I feel so lucky that the right job at the ACO came along at the right time.

Oh gosh there are SO many favourites. I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been to see and work with the incredible acts we have had here. My first Vivid LIVE festival we had Ice Cube and Solange doing 4 shows each and they were just incredible shows for such different reasons. I think I still have bruises on the sides of my legs from the Concert Hall seats from dancing so much at Underworld in 2019 – that was one of the best shows I’ve ever been at. I also love seeing an artist in a smaller room and then their career happens to skyrocket like with H.E.R., who would inevitably play at much bigger venues than ours going forwards. Sometimes I feel sad that I would never ask for a photo with an artist, because I think my daughter will never believe some of the shows I’ve produced and sometimes wish I could show her when she’s older ;).

I’m also lucky that I get to experience shows outside of the music team and they just blow me away a lot of the time, like the big musicals or operas we have in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, to the incredible kids programs I love taking my daughter to.

I don’t know how many people know the history with how it got built. It has such a complicated story, and the original architect Jorn Utzon left the project mid-way through and never saw the building completed. Or that we have 7 venues and other little performance spaces dotted around the building! There are so many people who work at SOH and so many different departments, it takes a huge amount of people to keep it running and I’ve never known a place where everyone cares so deeply about giving the audiences and visitors the most amazing experience possible when they come here.

They do say that the Joan Sutherland Theatre is haunted, although the Opera House is just a baby really, only 50 years old. They kept a single “ghost”  light on in each theatre during Covid in a nod to the old theatre tradition. 

My parents always encouraged me to do what I love, which I am always really grateful for because I knew working in the arts, or performing, was not a lucrative decision and you don’t do it for the money. When I was at school they were so supportive, pushing me to sing, play the piano, cello and would drive me all over the place for ballet and dance lessons. They have always supported me in doing what I love and are so proud of the job I have today. They love telling people I work at the Opera House. 

To back myself more. I have learnt in my career that people back me more than I tend to back myself. As a woman, particularly 17 years ago when I was starting out in the industry, it felt very hard to put myself out there, and it still does. So have more confidence and back yourself, because you know you’ve got this. 

I feel very lucky that we have an amazing CEO at Sydney Opera House, Louise Herron. Louise is incredibly supportive of women at the House, particularly helping to support career growth and women with families or young children at home. I have so much respect for any woman who has risen through the ranks in the music industry because, particularly when I was starting out in London, it was very male dominated and it’s been women who have helped me on my career path such as Kathyrn Enticott, my first Managing Director at IMG Artists. 

You have to work very hard to get where you want to go and nobody will make that happen for you, you have to make it happen for yourself. If you have a passion, or a goal, don’t lose sight of that. I truly believe you can make what you want happen for yourself if you work towards it and you have to believe that it’s the right path for you. Enjoy it too, because it can be a lot of fun; we get to do some amazing things in our industry, experience incredible art and artistry. 

I practise yoga religiously and have for over a decade now. It’s what keeps me sane and strong, I do it for mental health maybe even more than physical health and it’s an absolute staple in my life, my second home. 

It’s trying to find the balance and remembering that I love what I do and I wouldn’t want to work in another industry. It’s making time for the things that keep the stress levels at bay (yoga, ocean swims, walking, reading, sleep) and knowing that it’s okay to do all those things and not feel guilty about it, because I also work very hard at the same time. The older I get,  I’m learning I don’t have to say yes to everything. I still struggle with that, but I’m teaching myself that it’s okay to say no. That it’s okay to turn some things down to prioritise rest, when that’s what the body and mind needs. 

I think when you look at the industry it looks very glamorous. Once you’re in it – it can be, and it can be amazing, but it is also not glamorous as anyone working in the industry will know. 

When I look back at some of the experiences I had in the industry when I was in my 20s I feel pretty shocked. Things that I thought were less likely (or I hope) to happen now, such as how you’re treated as a young woman, as a short woman being looked down on and not respected. I do think we have come a long way, things are VERY different now to what I used to experience, but I know that we still have a lot of work to do. My experience has mostly been good, but when I was working on the festivals in my 20s, I sometimes wouldn’t sleep for 2-3 days (there was no such thing as time off in lieu), I would be sent in the middle of the night to pick up groups of musicians from the airport at 2am who would be drunk coming off the plane. There are also so many great memories, so many incredible shows, so many countries and stories. I don’t regret choosing this industry one bit and I would do it again. 

In my current job it’s everything we have to do before we announce the festival. Putting together the festival itself is the part that I thrive on and I love being in “festival mode” and making the shows happen from beginning, middle to end. But before that part there is so much work that goes into getting a festival announced, especially in a government agency as we have a lot of approval processes. We have to get 40-50 contracts negotiated and signed with the space of about 4-6 weeks with agents all over the world, get all the shows built in the ticketing systems, assets received, marketing materials prepped, media releases prepared, as well as internal approval processes and paperwork, budgets signed off and so much more. It’s always a mountain to climb and I’m so relieved on announcement day! It always feels like the end, but then I remember we have the actual festival to deliver 😉 but I love that part the most. 

100% I have faced this issue and it’s very hard to overcome but the older I get and the more established I am in the industry, I realise that I should have backed myself all along, because I know I have got this and I would say that to women in this industry – trust yourself because you know you can do this and you deserve to be here. Everybody is faking it and we’re all learning as we go – once I realised that, it made me feel a lot more comfortable trusting myself.

Vivid LIVE kicks off on Friday 24 May and we have 50 artists across multiple venues at Sydney Opera House every night for 10 days, it’s going to be incredible – don’t miss it!

I’m gonna say anything from the Spice Girls, can’t go wrong with “Wannabe.”