If travel really broadens the mind, then Sharon Burgess has arrived in Aberdeen with a significant bandwidth for culture in her new role.
Even as she adapts to the eclectic range of festivals staged in the north-east, her cv pinpoints her past experience of dealing with a fast and furious schedule at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and being a producer at the Edinburgh Hogmanay show.
Most recently, Sharon was the chief executive of ARTRAGE, a not-for-profit cultural body based in Perth in Western Australia, where she was instrumental in successfully navigating the organisation through the the Covid-19 pandemic. Which was no mean feat, considering how dramatically the curtain fell across the world.
But now, she has returned to her roots to take the helm as CEO at Aberdeen Performing Arts. Previously she was immersed in the Scottish sector as managing director of Assembly, one of the largest and oldest multi-venue producers at the Fringe, running almost 30 venues, hosting over 220 events a day across every conceivable genre and issuing more than half a million tickets to a truly global audience.
Plans to build on ‘brilliant’ foundations
Sharon has only been in the Granite City for a few weeks, but has already been impressed with the diverse range of offerings available at different venues.
She was charmed by Richard E Grant’s “captivating” performance at the Music Hall recently, where the actor recalled meeting his late wife in Aberdeen, and enthralled by Scottish Opera’s “incredible” production of Carmen at His Majesty’s Theatre.
And she was excited by the energy and effervescence of the myriad young performers at the Light the Blue festival, including those who participated in the Let’s Create initiative and showcased their talents at the Lemon Tree.
Sharon happily admits that she plans to build on the “brilliant” foundations established by the organisation’s previous chief executive, Jane Spiers, who stood down last year. And she is already captivated by the positivity around the arts scene in her new patch.
She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be here and am loving Aberdeen so far. The city has truly captured my heart with its unique charm and incredible cultural offerings.
“I am confident I’ll have no trouble encouraging my friends and family to visit. We are so lucky to benefit from Aberdeen’s walkable streets, vibrant arts scene, incredible food offerings, and the natural wonders surrounding it, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. I feel incredibly fortunate to be a part of this wonderful city, and I can’t wait to continue discovering all that Aberdeen has to offer.”
She wants audiences far and wide
As a big fan of Jason Byrne, Sharon can’t wait for the popular Irish comedian’s sojourn to the city in October.
In the bigger picture, she firmly believes that arts and culture should be accessible to everybody, not just a select few who can afford expensive ticket prices, and is determined to provide platforms for diverse voices across the community and establish Aberdeen as a sought-after destination for audiences far and wide.
One suspects that, rather like Queen Victoria, she is not remotely interested in the possibility of defeat.
