A day in the life of...Head of Programme Development, Sally Hobson

Head of Programme Development, Sally Hobson talks negotiating a bustling Royal Mile to get to work and reveals what she is looking forward to at Festival 2010.

Can you give a brief overview of your role at EIF?
I work at the Festival as Head of Programme Development. I look after events that extend the reach of the Festival’s programme. My portfolio includes defining and delivering our schools work in Edinburgh for primary and secondary schools.

How long have you worked at the Festival?
I have worked here since 1994 and this will be my 17th Festival.

What is the best/most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job is meeting deadlines and the pressure of the job. The hardest part is negotiating the walk along the Royal Mile when its busy.

The best parts of the job include working with my colleagues, the school pupils responses and our artists who deliver the programme year round as well as in August.

What do you do on a day to day basis?
I work with all departments at the Festival in different ways throughout the year.

What did you do before joining the Festival?
I worked with the Citizens’ Theatre and various arts organisations in Scotland and England. Alongside this I trained and worked as a therapist with experience of working in England and Scotland, specifically Easterhouse and Royston in Glasgow.

What do you get up to outside of work?
I write poetry and theatre productions. I have undertaken SAC funded projects in writing development and had produced work in various venues in Scotland. I swim a lot, and walk all over the place. I have an 18 year son whom I talk to occasionally. I go to the cinema and hang-out with friends.

Which events are you most looking forward to at the Festival 2010?
Mahler 3, Pina Bausch and Mau. The day after the Festival is all over is a wonderful feeling too! The weight of delivering a large programme lifts and for a while there is space in the city again!

Confessions of a Chorus Member: Susan Bowden

Festival Chorus member Susan Bowden talks about her nerve-racking first audition, the thrill of a standing ovation and wardrobe worries backstage.

Where to start? I arrived in the festival chorus in 1989 having done higher music at school. A friend of my mums brought me along to an empty Usher Hall to listen to a rehearsal and I was blown away by the sound. So after one very nerve-racking audition with Arthur Oldham, 'sight-reading terrible' he said, 'you are not supposed to improvise!' I was a member of the Festival chorus.

The first piece I ever sang in the festival was the memorable Brahms Requiem, terrifying when you have never sung in German before. Over the years there have many memorable concerts, the large choral works, opera recordings, one great memory was the St Petersburg Phil and Yuri Teramakanov we rehearsed in the Meadowbank stadium and they wheeled in a Television at half time for the orchestra to watch what was unfolding in Russia as Communism fell. As the orchestra took to the stage the audience gave a standing ovation, the Mozart Requiem has never felt so emotional.

There is always a great anticipation as August approaches, the first piano rehearsal with the visiting conductor and the great day when the full orchestration comes to life! It is always fascinating to hear the music we have heard Sam Hutchings playing on the grand piano in rehearsal, filling the Usher Hall.

Over the years I have made many great friends, the chorus is a very friendly group, some people have been there for many years and some only a few. But we all share a common goal of making the best music we possibly can, helped by our chorus master Christopher Bell. He keeps us working hard throughout the year, and we share lots of funny moments.

We have El Nino, Mahler 3, and Mahler 8 and the men have opera, Puccini , I am probably most excited by Mahler 3 with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, but all our concerts are filled with excitement. Live music is always best, the only way to really share in the excitement and atmosphere. The best feeling is the opening concert but many concerts take you by surprise, it is always a great adventure, even sitting backstage trying not to get dust on your black outfit before going on stage builds the excitement. Here’s to a great Festival 2010.

To find out more about the Festival Chorus go here.

A day in the life of...Graphic Designer, Dawid Nabialek

Graphic Designer for the Festival, Dawid Nabialek talks job juggling, his career path from Poland and bringing creative ideas to life.

Can you give a brief overview of your role at EIF?
I work at the Festival as a full-time graphic designer looking after the Festival's brand and providing the marketing department with many designs including posters, leaflets, advertisements, displays, stationery, reports as well as electronic communications and web graphics.

Every year we collaborate with a design agency. They usually create the main design ideas each year including the design of the main brochure. This then forms the basis for the rest of that year’s campaign. Once the Festival brochure is ready I use the designs to develop the rest of campaign visuals which come in various shapes and sizes.

How long have you worked at the Festival?
I have worked here since 2007 and this year is my fourth Festival.

What is the best/most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job is juggling numerous design jobs for various Festival colleagues all to tight deadlines. I love it when work duties allow me to release my creativity which I can turn into a good and effective design.

One of the best moments each year is during the Festival when after a busy day of work I have the opportunity to enjoy watching Festival shows.

What do you do on a day to day basis?
I work closely with Marketing Manager, Marketing Officer and Festival Marketing and Communication Director on marketing strategies, creative ideas and campaigns all year round, I then find design solutions and techniques to make them a reality. I deal with subcontractors (e.g. printers) and I also help colleagues from other Festival departments including sponsorship, finance, programme development, Hub Tickets and Cafe Hub with their graphic design and artworks.

What did you do before joining the Festival?
Since 2003 I worked as a designer for art organisations, printing companies, ad agencies, graphic design studios, clubs, shops and different companies in Poland.

What do you do apart from your normal work?
My current interest is photography. My favourite subjects are people, streets and more detailed work. I have taken part in two group exhibitions in Edinburgh with Polish and Scottish artists.

I try to be active after my day to day work as well. I work with local communities from Edinburgh on various cultural projects and events. For example, last year, I joined a busy team of young volunteers who have been organising a week-long Festival, the Polish Cultural Festival in Edinburgh, full of cultural events and performances including live music, theatre, dance, film, visual arts and lectures as well as great Medieval Market and Tournament in Leith Links Park.

Which events are you most looking forward to at the Festival 2010?
Russian National Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, Teatro Cinema, Grupo Corpo, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Mau and Bliss.

Confessions of a Chorus Member: Nikki Thomson

Festival Chorus member Nikki Thomson talks about going from choir to chorus and realising her childhood dream...

I discovered the Festival Chorus by happy accident in December 2002. I’d just moved back to Edinburgh and was keen to join a choir. My brother was working in the Hub Café and told me there was a choir that rehearsed upstairs on Tuesday nights. I auditioned after a rehearsal in January 2003. It was at that rehearsal that I realised this was far more than I’d expected – I think it was sight singing Act Two of Lohengrin that did it. I’d only ever sung in church, school and college choirs before and this was very different.

Much of my life revolves around the Chorus, and when I was doing a part-time Masters degree a few years ago I even persuaded the University to let me swap classes around so I didn’t miss rehearsals. I love the discipline of working week by week in a large group that seeks to be the best it can be.

In August there are several step changes as the chorus prepares to perform. First Christopher Bell, our chorus master, corrects anything we’ve forgotten over the summer break. Then he hands us over to whoever’s conducting the piece, that’s exciting as we have just a couple of hours to learn what they expect of us and for them to learn what we can do. Then the orchestra’s added to the mix and the sound becomes much bigger. Sometimes we find that a piece really doesn’t sound like we thought it did when we rehearsed with the piano. Finally the soloists join the rehearsal and we get to hear the finished piece for the first time, which can be quite moving.

After that step-by-step build-up, we’re primed and ready for the performance. The first time I stood in the Usher Hall choir stalls I remembered I was realising a childhood dream that one day I wanted to be up there performing, and now I was.

There’s been something special about every year’s Festival. I’m looking forward to singing El Nino this year but before that I’m really excited that I’ll get to realise another dream by singing in the Albert Hall at the Proms with the rest of the Chorus ladies in August.

To find out more about the Festival Chorus go here.

Confessions of a Chorus Member: Peter Cannell

Festival Chorus member Peter Cannell gives 10 reasons why he's spent 30 years singing in the Festival Chorus...

1. the buzz of performing at the highest level with world class conductors, orchestras and soloists in the fabulous acoustic of the Usher Hall

2. the joy of being a key part of the Festival and not only a spectator

3. the intellectual challenge of mastering so many different styles of music

4. the companionship of shared endeavour and success

5. the half a minute of contemplative silence that greeted a performance of Verdi’s Requiem, conducted by Claudio Abbado, before the audience went wild with appreciation

6. the sheer impossibility of singing Zimmerman’s Requiem before realising after about twenty rehearsals what he was actually trying to say and then performing it in (amongst many venues) former east Berlin

7. the thrill and challenge of conductors’ piano rehearsals when in one rehearsal we have to absorb the conductor’s view of the work and respond to all the nuances of their interpretations

8. the amazement of some new conductors when they realise what they can achieve with this chorus

9. I haven’t failed any of the regular reauditions (yet!)

10. this Chorus enriches the cultural life of Scotland and in a small way helps to make this city of Edinburgh what it is.

To find out more about the Festival Chorus go here.

Festival Blogger review - Experimentum Mundi

Image: Experimentum Mundi. Photo: Peter Sandground.

The prospect of watching a group of artisans performing industrial every-day tasks was some thing I, and likely many other audience members, were somewhat apprehensive about. The experimental nature of the performance was something no-one could ignore, but it was to be certainly worth witnessing.

Sharp, stark noises punch through the intimate Traverse Theatre, as tools clatter against raw materials, tradesman information is sternly announced. It is a brash performance, and although there is a initial hint of awkwardness I soon found myself intrigued in particular artisans - the coopers, the cobblers, the blacksmith. All the elements merge together as the tempo starts to rise and the (somewhat unusual) rhythm picks up. Suddenly something clicked and I found myself captivated by their primary, repetitive actions and the audible results intertwining. The real-time construction of products on stage was an excellent touch and reminded us that these are genuine craftsmen.

This would not have been possible without the excellent performance of percussionist Nicola Raffone, who strode around his collection striking and strumming all manner of instruments - an art to watch in itself. He compounded together the artisans organic sounds and played what was an essential role in the night’s performance.

The craftsmens’ transformation into collective musicians, individually mundane tasks into somewhat of an ensemble, is difficult to describe; but one that was executed incredibly well by director Giorgio Battistelli and is almost as difficult to forget.

Reviewer: Tom Welsh

Festival staff profile - Zuleika Brett

As Festival 09 draws to a close, we spoke to the lovely Zuleika Brett, our Senior Development Officer of Individual Giving.

How did you come to work for the Edinburgh International Festival?
My background is in visual arts having studied Art History at Glasgow University. After graduating I worked in galleries, and also an artist’s studio working in administration including managing their membership scheme before jumping at the chance to join the Festival team when the opportunity arose!

What does your position involve?
Working in the Sponsorship Department my main role is managing the membership scheme. Not only the day to day running, but planning, organizing and attending events all year round for the Friends scheme.

What is the best part of your job?
Getting out an about, especially during the Festival period, talking to supporters and meeting lots of lovely people is definitely the best part of the job. For many people coming to the Festival period is the highlight of the year, and their enthusiasm for the performances is infectious!

What is the most challenging part of your job?
I guess it gets a little frantic running from venue to venue trying to catch up with as many people as possible, however of course its so nice to see people (often its just once a year we get to meet up), and the performances themselves also give you that extra bit of energy required!

What has been your most memorable Festival experience so far?
Do I have to pick just one; there’s so many?! From the unease that Malthouse Melbourne managed to instill in the audience with their production of The Tell-Tale Heart in 2008, to the extraordinary performance by Mabou Mines in 2007; they certainly kept the audience on their toes with their performance of Dollhouse. Equally memorable was seeing the staged performance of Die Zauberflöte conducted by Claudio Abbado in 2006…and seeing Daniel Barenboim conduct his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 2005….sorry, can’t choose between them!

Which events are you most looking forward to at Festival 09 and why?
Peter and Wendy – after Mabou Mines’ Dollhouse, I’m really excited to see what they’ve done with this classic tale. In addition, I’m really looking forward to hearing the Hallé perform The Dream of Gerontius.

What are your words of advice to those at the Festival this August?
As well as picking old favourites, also go out on a limb and pick something unfamiliar – it may end up being the highlight of your Festival. Plus wear sensible shoes for all that running between venues!

Describe the Edinburgh International Festival in 3 words?
Unique. Daring. Fun

Festival Blogger review - Retrospect Ensemble

Image: Matthew Halls, Director of Retrospect Ensemble.

In this concert we heard two of Bach's less well-known secular cantata’s, 'O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit' and 'Non sa che sia dolore', written when he was director of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig.

Perhaps due to its length, 'O holder tag' being Bach’s longest solo cantata, the first piece included more contrast than the second and to my ear was a more satisfying whole. Yet both cantatas proved to be a delight. From the moment soprano Carolyn Sampson opened her mouth I knew we were in for a treat. Her voice sparkled and glistened throughout. This was not easy music and yet she seemed in complete control for the full hour of quite extensive singing. She handled the coloratura masterly and made it seem effortless.

After having heard Sampson I now understand why Gramophone magazine described her as, ‘the best British early music soprano by quite some distance.’ My only criticism would be that Sampson’s voice at times lacked contrast and certain passages would have benefitted from a slightly darker tone. However this is a minor criticism in what was a generally magnificent performance.

Sampson was accompanied by the able Retrospect Ensemble, a group who formed only this year and which has already secured an annual Wigmore Hall season. They played with sensitivity and attention to detail, and were led by the charming Matthew Halls on the harpsichord. The concert finished with a heartbreakingly beautiful encore of 'Bist du bei mir' sung by Sampson and accompanied by basso continuo. Unintentionally, this was perhaps the highlight of the concert and ensured that the audience all left in high spirits.

Reviewer: Fiona Stewart

Artist Interview - Philippe Herreweghe, conductor for 'Elias'

Image: Philippe Herreweghe. Photo: Michel Garnier

Philippe Herreweghe was the conductor for Elias which was performed on 18 August at the Usher Hall as part of Festival 09.

Can you tell us a little about your background and some of your first performances?
I was born in Ghent, and combined university studies in medicine and psychiatry with a musical training at the conservatory, where I studied piano with Marcel Gazelle. In the same period I also started conducting and in 1970 I founded the ensemble Collegium Vocale Ghent. Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt invited me to work on their project recording the complete Bach cantatas. At that time, I decided to devote myself to music. Since then I have founded other ensembles, among them the Orchestre des Champs Elysées, founded in 1991 with the aim of re-creating the brilliance of the Romantic and pre-Romantic repertoire on original instruments.

Do you find that there are many differences between audiences in different parts of the world, if so, what are they?
For musicians, it is a huge satisfaction to play before a well-prepared audience. For instance it is very thrilling to play Schumann in Leipzig, where the audience has a very high musical culture and where Schumann played himself. However, we played a few months ago in Sao Paulo before students who had no contact with this kind of music, so-called serious music. And it was very inspiring!

Is there a piece of music that you most enjoy performing in Elias?
As far as I am concerned, the whole work is of the highest quality, one can hear the grandeur of Mendelssohn’s inspiration and the excellence of his writing. His ingenuousness in writing culminates in the interventions of the child, der Knabe, and that may be my favorite sequences.

What do you see as the main differences between performing in a festival and performances in other seasons?
The audience gets into music during almost a month and is therefore much more receptive.
On the other hand, the whole city takes part to the festival, there is a kind of exaltation, a wonderful effervescence, which we can feel from the stage.

Have you attended the Edinburgh International Festival before, if so what are your observations of the Festival?
Yes, I did. The current Director is a friend of mine, whose imagination serves a fascinating programming. And I have never been disappointed by the lively atmosphere ans audience’s enthusiasm.

Why do you think people most enjot about Elias?
Elias is Mendelssohn’s masterpiece, brilliantly written, it aims at everybody, which is the sign of an outstanding achievement.

Festival Blogger review - Peter and Wendy

Image: Peter and Wendy. Photo: Scott Suchman.

New York Company Mabou Mines’ Peter and Wendy charmingly retells the story of Peter Pan in a thoroughly original, and often eerie, way. Led by the brilliant narrator Karen Kandel, Mabou Mines uses a skillful mix of puppetry, song, dance and slapstick to bring J.M. Barrie’s classic to life.

Set to music arranged by the late Johnny Cunningham, the play reminds us of the darker and more tragic undertones of the story- the fear of growing up and the nastier side to Peter’s playful mischief. Dressed in white, with long veils obscuring their faces (and giving the impression of enchanted beekeepers) the puppeteers delighted the audience with a giggling Peter, a very sinister Hook, a ghost- like Neverbird and a Tango dancing crocodile. Johnny Cunningham (born in Edinburgh) has woven this Peter Pan with a beautiful mixture of fast paced Scottish folk music, and haunting laments which help bring a very Celtic feel to the play written by one of Scotland’s most famous writers.

While this production is not necessarily a feast for the eyes in the same way that many adaptations are, it still manages to charm and delight with its pop- up book scenery, twinkling backdrop and Pirate ship of fluttering sails. The flight to Neverland is a joy to behold.

However, it is Karen Kandel who undoubtedly steals the show. The lone speaker, she adapts voices for every character, and her playfulness (and hilarious impression of the Queen) helps add to the charm and lively nature of the piece. Although her Scottish accent was somewhat dubious, she is nonetheless to be applauded for her fine voice skills, comic timing and ability to wrench emotion from every possible moment. Like Peter himself, this play is a mischievous, entertaining and enthralling piece of work, to be enjoyed by adults and children alike.

Reviewer: Eleanor Morton

Festival Staff profile - Kirsten Stewart

We spoke to our HR and Payroll Manager, Kirsten Stewart, about her job and her Festival highlights.

How did you come to work for the Edinburgh International Festival? I studied Geography at St Andrews University and then took a year off travelling in the southern hemisphere before studying Human Resource Management at Napier University. I worked in a busy HR department in a NHS Health Board for 5 years before looking for a change and I certainly found that at the Festival.

What does your position involve? I process all wages and salaries for employees of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Centre. I also provide HR advice to managers and staff, revise and write policies and manage recruitment and selection of staff.

What is the best part of your job? The best part of my job is the variety of my role. I can never expect what each new day will bring!

What is the most challenging part of your job? Ensuring that all the temporary staff for the festival period are recruited, inducted and paid! This can mean dealing with an extra 100 people starting pretty much at the same time.

What has been your most memorable Festival experience so far? There have been a few but I really loved Matthew Bourne's Picture of Dorian Gray. I had read the original play and was not a big fan of modern dance but this totally converted me.

Which event have you most enjoyed at Festival 09 and why? I loved Faust. It was spectacular and I had never seen anything like it.

What are your words of advice to those still at Festival 09? Have fun, keep calm and smile.

Describe the Edinburgh International Festival in three words? Inspiring, spectacular and engaging.

Artist Interview - Thierry Poquet, Director of St Kilda

Image: St Kilda. Photo: Christian Mathieu.

We spoke to Thierry Poquet, Director of St Kilda, a staged opera telling the story of the 'Birdmen' of St Kilda. St Kilda played at the Festival Theatre this August as part of Festival 09.

What is your background and what types of projects did you work on before St Kilda?
As a music composer and actor, I started to direct in 1985 with big outdoors theatre shows with Collectif Organum (cf. Locos in Glasgow 1990). After a time directing contemporary texts (including Fassbinder, Genet, Motton, Berkoff, Pasolini and Tremblay), I now work with contemporary composers and orchestras (including Ars Nova, Musiques Nouvelles and Sphota) for operas and other shows combining poetry, musical theatre, dance and film.

How did you start working on this production?
I was called by Artistic Creator, Lew Bogdan, to go to a lost Island. They asked me to co-write the show, to coordinate the artistic European project and to co-direct the film. I took three planes and an 8-hour ride boat to discover St Kilda and these amazing stories. This place is such a special spot you can’t help but dream: it sacred, and you can feel it from the ground to the sky.

The production has many sensory aspects, including film footage woven into the live performance. Do you find your role as director to St Kilda different to other shows you have been involved in and if so, in what ways?
The size: it was a European project connecting 5 countries. But as I’ve said above, I like to use a poetic language involving music, acrobatics, dance, theatre, film and the new sounds.

What do you think audiences most enjoy about the opera St Kilda?
This story is an echo of each personal history: exodus by the war, exodus to find a job, exodus to survive, exodus for political reasons. We all have roots we need to take care of.

Artist interview - Emerson String Quartet

Image: Emerson String Quartet. Photo: Mitch Jenkins

We spoke to the Emerson String Quartet ahead of their performance at the Queen's Hall this Friday at 11am. Limited tickets are still available from eif.co.uk/emerson.

Can you tell us about your background and how the Emerson String Quartet formed?
We met as students of Oscar Shumsky at the Juilliard School. We formed a student quartet in the early 1970s, which evolved gradually into a professional ensemble. Our current membership dates from autumn 1979.

Do you find that there are many differences between audiences you’ve played to in different parts of the world?
I would say that the main differences are not so much between different countries as they are, even within one country, between audiences that are sophisticated about chamber music and those that are somewhat less so. When we first toured Germany in 1983, we noticed how quiet the audiences were while we played. That gave the impression that they were listening more attentively than audiences in the U.S., where we were used to a fair amount of coughing during the performances. The applause and vocal reactions after each piece seem to be more enthusiastic or impassioned in Germany, Austria and Switzerland than, say, in Italy, where the response to chamber music is more tempered than at opera performances. This leads one to the conclusion that since most of the repertoire we play was written in Central Europe, it elicits the most intense reaction in the countries where it originated. However, it is important not to overgeneralise and to remember that music will speak directly to any listeners who are open to it, no matter what their background or nationality may be. Over the years we have developed a very warm rapport with our audiences in London. Even within the U.S., we notice a large range of reactions.

What do you see as the main differences between performing in a festival programme and performances in other seasons?
In festivals there is the stimulus of other musicians whom we might hear, and who might listen to our performances. Often there is thematic programming, and this year at many festivals we have programmed either Haydn or Mendelssohn, or both, because of Haydn's death and Mendelssohn's birth in 1809.

Is there a piece of music that you are particularly looking forward to performing at the Festival?
All three pieces on our programme are great. It is interesting to juxtapose Mendelssohn's early Op. 12 with Beethoven's "Harp" Quartet, Op. 74, because of their similarities. The influence of Beethoven can be clearly felt, especially in the slow introduction to the first movement. Then we play Mendelssohn's last completed quartet, Op. 80, written in great anguish after the death of his sister, and shortly before his own demise. This driven, obsessive work brings Mendelssohn closer to the stormy spirit of Beethoven, even though there may not be a specific model as was the case with both Opp. 12 and 13, and points to a radical new direction that Mendelssohn's music would have taken had he lived longer.

Have you attended the Edinburgh International Festival before, if so what are your observations of the Festival?
Though we've played once at the Queen's Hall, it was not during the Festival, which we are looking forward to.

Why do you think people should come to the Emerson String Quartet at the Edinburgh International Festival?
Perhaps the fact that it is our festival debut, and only our second appearance in Scotland, will be of some interest. Through our recordings, and broadcasts of our London concerts on the BBC, we hope that we have a following among classical music lovers throughout the British Isles.

Festival Blogger review - The Yalta Game

Image: The Yalta Game. Photo: Trent O'Donnell

Patrick Mason’s production of Brian Friel’s The Yalta Game really is a little gem – little being the opportune word to describe this fifty minute stage adaptation of Chekhov’s classic tale, The Lady and the Lapdog. The theme of transparency lies at the heart of this play which recounts the extra-marital affair of a Russian accountant, Dmitry (Risteárd Cooper), and a young high-society woman, Anna (Rebecca O’Mara). The two begin their affair and are bonded by their mutual passion for “The Yalta Game”, in which the residents and visitors of a small Russian town scrutinise each other “investing the lives of others with imagined lives,” however, Dmitry soon becomes one of his own fantasies - albeit of his own devising - and this theme becomes all too apparent when he claims he has two distinct lives, one public and one private – the public one being, “fully conventional, altogether transparent, and an utter deception.”

In addition to the bravura performances of the cast in this two-hander play, Liz Ashcroft once again manages to capture the full flavour of the play in her set design (as she did with Faith Healer) which is very minimalistic and altogether static throughout, if almost non-existent. The production contains no additional props other than about 10 chairs randomly placed across the stage; however, this set design remains very effective as it means there is no detraction from the intensity of the couple’s relationship on stage, which at times has the charm of that of Laura and Alec in Brief Encounter.

The full poignancy of this play lies in the fact that both characters know that their relationship cannot last and are able to admit this to themselves, yet their love transcends this fact and they are unable to admit it to each other. In essence, they remain somewhat trapped in a freefalling inertia which in Dmitry’s words is both “deceptive and authentic.” This truly was a play with a strong flavour in which the audience was left desperate for more, which is exactly what makes this production a success.

Reviewer: Scott Clair

Festival Staff Profile - Jenny Rutherford

We spoke to Jenny Rutherford, Head of Marketing & Business Development for The Hub, the home of the Edinburgh International Festival.

What is your background – how did you come to work for The Hub?
I ran a small venue in Edinburgh for 4 years before coming to The Hub. Previous to that roles including Cast member in Disneyland, Kids rep. on a campsite in France and waitress in an American Country Club taught me a lot about both running events and customer service!

What is your job title and what does your position involve?
Head of Marketing & Business Development. Promoting The Hub to the right people and ensuring that we’re meeting their needs and keeping up to date with the fast paced events industry.

What is the best part of your job?
The variety and the fact that hospitality is a fun business.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Trying to please everyone – customers and colleagues!

What has been your most memorable experience in your job so far?
The Parliament sitting at The Hub in 2006

Which event/s are you most looking forward to at Festival 09? Why?
Petrushka, I love Ballet!

What are your words of advice to those at the Festival this August?
Keep breathing!

Describe the Edinburgh International Festival in 3 words?
Stylish, Huge, Breathtaking