Welsh National Opera is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to its board; Andrew Miller, Henry Little and Sam Jones.
Andrew Miller is an arts consultant and broadcaster. He belongs to the first generation of disabled television presenters in the UK with credits including Boom! for Channel 4 and Advice Shop for BBC1.
Andrew has occupied senior roles at Arts Council England, Royal & Derngate Theatres and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. He established RWCMD's new and highly successful arts centre in Cardiff and also created the RPS award nominated R17 Season in Wales, a nationwide arts festival marking the centenary of the Russian Revolution. Uniquely, Andrew serves as a National Council Member of both Arts Council England and The Arts Council of Wales and is also a trustee of UK digital arts development agency The Space. In 2018 Andrew was appointed as the UK Government’s first Disability Champion for Arts & Culture, establishing the role as a powerful platform to campaign for greater inclusion across the arts, museums and film.
Also joining the board is Henry Little. Henry was appointed as Chief Executive of Opera Rara in November 2015. Since then he has led the company in several projects; Zazà and Echo and Espoir, all three of which were nominated for an International Opera Award for best opera recording. Previously Chief Executive of the award winning national music charity, Orchestras Live for seven years, Henry led pioneering and innovative partnerships with British orchestras, taking their work to underserved areas of England. He has a long and varied track record of work in opera which began with three years as a freelance stage director, before joining English National Opera as a Staff Director. Henry moved briefly to British Youth Opera as General & Company Manager, and later to artists’ management. He worked at Arts Council England where he was Head of Opera for ten years during which time, he formed close and proactive working relationships with the largest opera companies in the UK, including with Welsh National Opera.
Sam Jones is a widely-respected Chief Executive recognized globally for scaling landmark consumer digital businesses in sports, music and entertainment and delivering exceptional revenue growth and shareholder return. His responsibilities have seen him in the unique position of developing products for icons, artists and institutions such as Adele, Madonna, Rihanna, The Telegraph, NFL, The Premier League, ATP, Turner, and EMI Classics. As the CEO of Overtier, Jones oversees a first-of-its-kind venture to build and operate next-generation multi-platform streaming services around the world. He was recruited for this role by Bruin Sports Capital, creators of OverTier with WPP. Jones is also board advisor to Bruin on matters of direct-to-consumer, technology, and Venture Capital.
Before Overtier, Jones was CEO Digital and Executive Board Member at Bauer Media where his tenure featured rapid growth acceleration of the Bauer audio business as well as the production of the highest rated and awarded digital audio products in Europe. He has also held senior leadership roles with Warner Music Group, Perform Group and the Telegraph.
WNO Board member and Interim Chair, Martyn Ryan said: “We are delighted to welcome our new members to WNO and to be expanding the breadth of expertise on our Board - we’ve already seen the benefits of their skills and experience in their early interactions with us. We are looking forward to adding further new members in the coming months.”
Notes to Editors
- Welsh National Opera is the national opera company for Wales. WNO is funded by the Arts Councils of Wales and England to provide large scale opera across Wales and to major cities in the English regions.
- WNO production images are available for download at http://www.wno.org.uk/press
- For more information, photos or interviews please contact Rachel Bowyer or Penny James, Press and Public Affairs Manager (job-share) on 029 20635038 or rachel.bowyer@wno.org.uk / penny.james@wno.org.uk or Christina Blakeman Press Officer on 029 2063 5037 or christina.blakeman@wno.org.uk