ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Rachel Podger has established herself as a leading interpreter of the Baroque and Classical. She was the first woman to be awarded the prestigious Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Prize in October 2015, as well as Gramophone Artist of the Year 2018, and the Ambassador for REMA’s Early Music Day 2020. A creative programmer, Rachel is the founder and Artistic Director of Brecon Baroque Festival and her ensemble Brecon Baroque. Rachel is also Patron for The Continuo Foundation.

FESTIVAL PRODUCER

James enjoys a varied career in arts management, performance and education, and in addition to being Festival Manager at Brecon Baroque Festival is Artistic Producer at classical music education charity Making Music, Changing Lives. As a recorder player he performs regularly with many of the UK and Europe’s early music ensembles, and teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. He speaks Welsh and French and loves using his languages at work. Outside of playing and producing, he runs marathons, learns Swedish, cooks Ottolenghi recipes, undertakes PhD research, and talks about Excel spreadsheets with anyone who’ll listen!

MARKETING, PR & PARTNERSHIPS

I have nearly 30 years' experience working in classical music PR having started out in-house with celebrated agents, Harrison Parrott Ltd. I have been lucky enough to work for the very best in the music industry promoting individual artists, choral and instrumental ensembles, symphony orchestras, festivals large and small, exhibitions and leaders in music education. I like to go off-piste too and have worked for Quentin Blake and The Big Draw, the world's only female Araash sculptor, Muirne Kate Dineen, and Antarctic explorer, Felicity Aston, who took eight women from the Commonwealth to the South Pole.

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Festivals gave me my first experience of hearing live music in a small Lincolnshire town, then years of touring engagements across Europe, the UK and America as manager of The Sixteen and Tenebrae. Now they give me the pleasure of working with friends and colleagues to make them happen here in Wales. I'm honoured to work year-round with Presteigne Festival and Brecon Baroque Festival, wildly contrasting but both hugely satisfying, and to be a trustee of the British Arts Festivals Association. At their best, festivals marry the excitement of great performance and a sense of place that can turn an event into an experience.