Welcome to Our New Head of Programming
We are delighted to announce
Rachael Whitworth will be joining our Perth Festival team as Head of Programming!
Rachael will commence her role on August 11, working closely with Artistic Director Iain Grandage and the programming team to deliver the 2022 program and to help fulfill the artistic vision for the Festival in future years.
Rachael has been Senior Producer at Performing Lines WA for the past three years and comes to the Festival with nearly 30 years of professional experience as a performer, educator, producer and manager.
Her appointment follows the Festival Board’s recent extension of Iain Grandage’s term as Artistic Director by an extra year to enable him to deliver a fifth and final annual program in 2024.
Iain Grandage said: ‘Rachael Whitworth is a wonderful human and an extraordinary producer. She balances grit and strength with immense heart, and she is trusted by artists across the city and around the world. We first worked together in 1995 in our roles as practicing artists, and I’ve marvelled at her journey since then. It fills me with joy to get the opportunity to work alongside her.’
Rachael Whitworth said: ‘I am so excited to join the team at Perth Festival and build on Iain’s vision to connect our local and national artists with the audiences in our State. This role seems a natural next step for me and I feel very privileged to work alongside the passionate and dedicated Festival team.’
Rachael Whitworth joined Performing Lines WA as a producer in 2011 and became senior producer in 2018. Most recently, Rachael spearheaded Performing Lines WA’s Kolyang Creative Hub initiative in 2020 and 2021 to support independent and culturally diverse artists. She also led her team to premiere four new Western Australian works in the 2021 Festival. Black Brass, Children of the Sea, Galup and Slow Burn, Together were central to the success of the home-grown 2021 Festival program.
Trained at Victorian College of the Arts, Rachael began her professional career in 1992 as a classical dancer with West Australian Ballet before performing for a decade with Buzz Dance Theatre and Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. Completing a Graduate Diploma in Arts and Entertainment Management at Deakin University in 2000 saw her become Associate Producer for the 20th UNIMA Congress and World Puppetry Festival before joining Performing Lines WA in 2011. She has significant networks internationally after being a New York ISPA fellow for four years and working on cross-cultural collaborations with Sensorium Theatre in Singapore and leading tours in North America.
Perth Festival 2022 runs from 11 February to 5 March.
The Festival program will be announced later this year.