With the end of the Sydney Festival 2021, the tenure of the mercurial, wonderful Wesley Enoch as its Artistic Director has finished.
Appointed in early June 2020 the new Artistic Director is Australian curator and producer OIivia Ansell. Ansell came to the role after two and a half years as Head of Contemporary Performance at Sydney Opera House.
At the time Sydney Festival Chair, David Kirk MBE said:
“Sydney Festival is delighted for Olivia to take the artistic reigns as Festival Director in 2022. Having conducted an extensive global search that unearthed a number of high-calibre candidates for the role, it was incredibly pleasing to appoint someone with the breadth of experience that Olivia brings. We have no doubt that her creative insight and deep passion for Sydney will shape the festival’s next evolution in a way that is sure to thrill our audiences.”
Voted one of Vivid Sydney’s Top 100 Creative Catalysts, Ansell possesses a vast breadth of art experience, including roles as co-Executive Producer and creative force behind the hugely-popular immersive experience Hidden Sydney; Artistic Director of Sydney Comedy Festival at Sydney Town Hall; Curator of Kings Bloody Cross for Vivid Ideas; producer of Richard Walley OAM and Nigel Jamieson’s large-scale concert spectacular, HOME for Perth International Arts Festival; Consultant Executive Producer for OzAsia Festival Adelaide; and inaugural Executive Producer of Shaun Parker & Company. She is also a lecturer in Movement for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music’s Con Opera School.
“I’ve had a long obsession with Sydney’s irresistible charm and with the city’s untold stories, eager to be unleashed,” says Ansell. “I am beyond thrilled for the chance to collaborate with Sydney’s dynamic cultural, community and tourism sectors, and for the opportunity to create world-class festival experiences that dare the audience to dream.”
Since 2017, Ansell has curated and championed a diverse range of maverick storytellers to the Sydney Opera House stage, including Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow’s cult musical SIX; Hofesh Shechter’s critically acclaimed Grand Finale; Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights; A O Lang Pho by Cirque Nouveau du Vietnam; Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg’s Pure Dance and Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby’s hit show, Douglas.
Following an international search undertaken by strategic leadership consultancy, Challis & Company, the appointment marks a new era for the 43-year-old festival,
Of Ansell’s appointment Wesley Enoch said:
“I am so excited to hear of Olivia’s appointment,” states Enoch. “Her commitment to Australian artists makes her exactly the right person at exactly the right time steering Sydney Festival to remain the Festival of Sydney and Australia’s largest commissioner of new Australian works. Olivia is passionate, whip smart and has an eye for finding the popular, the adventurous and the stories we need to hear.”
Featured image : Sydney Festival’s new Artistic Director Olivia Ansell. Photo by Daniel Boud