Christopher Barron, Chief Executive of Birmingham Royal Ballet since 2005, has announced that he will stand down from the position after the current season in July 2015.
Barron joined Birmingham Royal Ballet in September 2005 following five years as Chief Executive of Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet, based in Glasgow. During this time he managed significant change at both companies including the successful appointment of a new artistic director and the development of a new home at Glasgow's Tramway for Scottish Ballet, and a major restructuring of Scottish Opera, leading to a secure financial future for the company.
During Barron’s time at Birmingham Royal Ballet the Company has created 24 new ballets, a record number for any UK company. The new productions include David Bintley’s interpretation of Cinderella in 2010, which won several major awards. It had a Christmas Day broadcast on BBC2 in the same year, and has also enjoyed repeat broadcasts on the BBC both domestically and internationally.
Other highlights for the Company during Barron’s leadership include the famous Ballet Hoo! project in which Birmingham Royal Ballet joined forces with the Youth at Risk charity and Channel 4, who made four one-hour programmes which were broadcast in October 2006.
200 untrained but enthusiastic disadvantaged young people in the West Midlands undertook the mission to turn their lives around through the challenging discipline of ballet. The four hours of primetime television programmes showed the journey of the disadvantaged young people and how the project had changed many of their lives forever.
Barron said, “These have been ten wonderful years with a great company. I have hugely enjoyed working with such skilled colleagues to extend the Company’s work and reputation.
"We have created a record number of new ballets, grown Birmingham Royal Ballet’s access to UK and overseas audiences and deepened the Company’s relationship with the communities of Birmingham and other cities it visits. Significantly, we have ridden the economic storm. For that I must thank my colleagues at Birmingham Royal Ballet for accepting change and adapting to the new economic world.
“I believe that this is the right time for a new Chief Executive to lead the company. The opportunities for Birmingham Royal Ballet are immense and it is appropriate for new energy and ideas to be introduced to ensure that the future is as exciting as the past few years.”
Barron will be leaving Birmingham Royal Ballet with state of the art new facilities, as the Company is currently undergoing a £2.8 million refurbishment to its Thorp Street home. Birmingham Royal Ballet’s dancers and staff will move back into their building in December this year after five months in temporary accommodation.
This complete refurbishment of all the facilities will vitally improve working practice and the benefits to the Company will be huge.
Professor Michael Clarke, Chair of the Board of Birmingham Royal Ballet, commented: “Christopher’s ten years at Birmingham Royal Ballet have been both hugely important and very exciting.
"He has led colleagues through a period of major transformation, putting Birmingham Royal Ballet in the vanguard of major arts organisations nationally and internationally. We shall miss him sorely, but will celebrate his impact on Birmingham Royal Ballet for a long time to come.”
Speaking of the future, Barron added: “My personal plan for the future is to seek projects that inspire me, to mentor new generations of arts managers and assist companies going through all the economic and cultural changes that are necessary today.”