General Director Anthony Sargent CBE announces he’ll
stand down in early 2015 after venue’s 10th birthday
Anthony Sargent has announced that he will stand down
after 15 years as General Director in April 2015, following the venue’s 10th
Birthday in December 2014.
In addition, Katherine Zeserson, who has been Director of
Learning and Participation at the venue since 2002, has said she will also be
moving on in early 2015.
Anthony Sargent, who was awarded the CBE in July 2013 and
also currently chairs the International Society of Performing Arts based in New York
“Sage Gateshead has been
the longest chapter of my life I’ve ever committed to a single project. It’s
been an enormously fulfilling 15 years, and I’m proud beyond words of the
extraordinary team of staff, musicians and board colleagues whose achievements
have together given Sage Gateshead such an internationally acclaimed first
decade. Working with them has been a daily inspiration, seeing Sage Gateshead
now so vividly established as one of the international triumphs of a region
with so much cultural success to be proud of. I’m looking forward very much to
our 10th Birthday celebrations, and then to seeing all the new developments and
triumphs of Sage Gateshead’s second decade building on the foundations we’ve
established so far”
Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Chairman of Sage Gateshead,
said:
“The fact that Sage Gateshead has established a national
and international reputation as one of the great venues of the world is due to
the tireless dedication and leadership of Anthony Sargent. He leaves an
extraordinary legacy of achievement and an organisation that is recognised as
one of the very finest centres for music performances and education. I also pay
great tribute to Katherine Zeserson, whose leadership in the field of music
education is recognised internationally. Both Anthony and Katherine have made
an enormous contribution to the cultural landscape of both the North East and
the UK
Katherine Zeserson, who as Director of Learning and
Participation has developed Sage Gateshead’s reputation as an international leader
in music education, said:
“Helping to shape and lead Sage Gateshead since 2001 has
been an extraordinary and deeply rewarding experience. I am enormously proud of
the reach and impact of our work over the last decade and the transformation to
which the company has contributed in the cultural landscape and communities of
the North East. I know that the organisation’s commitment to access and
excellence as indivisible defining principles will continue undimmed, and the
organisation’s national and international leadership in
the field of music education will grow in strength through the outstanding work
of the Learning and Participation team.”
Alan Davey, Chief Executive of Arts Council England,
said:
“In the past 10 years, Sage Gateshead has become an
internationally renowned institution visited by approximately half a million
people a year. It is a home for music and musical discovery for people of all
ages and backgrounds, and has helped bring about a long-term and widespread
change for the North East, consolidating Tyneside's position as a world-class
cultural hub’’.
Speaking of Mr. Sargent, Alan Davey added:
“Anthony Sargent has shown passion and insight in his
role as General Director of this triumphant organisation, creating a
sustainable future for one of the UK
Cllr Mick Henry CBE, Leader of Gateshead Council, said:
“Anthony has made a remarkable contribution to the huge
success that Sage Gateshead has enjoyed during its first decade. He's worked
tirelessly to create a world-class venue with an international reputation, of
which we are all incredibly proud. Anthony has played a key role in leading
Sage Gateshead to deliver an ambitious vision, bringing a phenomenal range of
music to many thousands of people, of all ages and backgrounds, from Gateshead and beyond."
Speaking of Katherine Zeserson, Professor Graham F Welch,
Chair of Music Education, University
of London
“Katherine Zeserson has been an inspirational national
and international figure in her championing of the value of structured musical
engagement in community settings. She has worked closely and tirelessly with
her team at Sage Gateshead to create one of the world's leading centres of
lifespan music education. The breadth, reach and quality of the work in the
North East of England and beyond is exemplary and owes much to her personal
drive and vision, as well as her ability in enabling partnership and
collegiality. As a result of her leadership, Sage Gateshead's Learning and
Participation programme is the most extensive in Europe .
Her contribution to music education over the past decade and more has been
outstanding.”
Lord Falconer added that an international search for a
new leadership team will begin in the late spring, and he hoped that new
appointments could be announced in the autumn.
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