Arcangelo is delighted to announce that Sir Nicholas Kenyon will be taking on the role of Chair of Trustees

Sir Nicholas Kenyon is to become the next Chair of Trustees at Arcangelo, the internationally-acclaimed period performance ensemble led by its founder and Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen, effective from March 2024.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon is one of the most distinguished arts leaders of our day, who has been Controller of BBC Radio 3 (1992-8), Director of the BBC Proms (1996-2007) and Managing Director of the Barbican Centre (2007-2021). He was previously a music critic for the New Yorker, the Times and the Observer, and is now Chief Opera Critic of the Telegraph (2021–).

Kenyon will succeed Rosalyn Wilkinson, who has been Chair since 2014.

Arcangelo Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen said:

“I’m honoured that Nicholas is to become Chair of Arcangelo. He has enormous knowledge and experience of Arcangelo’s musical and business worlds, which can guide and enrich us at every level. We will also benefit from his great energies and enthusiasms as a lead ambassador for Arcangelo’s work and plans, which have never been more ambitious.”

Rosalyn Wilkinson said:

“I am delighted that Nicholas will be taking over from me as Chair of Arcangelo. In the past 12 years under Jonny’s artistic direction, Arcangelo has built an international reputation for performances of uncompromising excellence. With exciting projects in preparation for coming seasons, no one is better qualified than Nicholas to lead a talented board as it navigates Arcangelo to its next successes.”

Sir Nicholas Kenyon said:

“It’s a huge honour to take over from Rosalyn and become Chair of one of the most distinguished early music ensembles in the UK and internationally. It will be a great pleasure to work with our outstanding Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen and trustees to develop Arcangelo’s work into the future.”

Kenyon has been a long-time observer and supporter of the early music scene: he edited the journal Early Music for OUP (1983-1992) and edited the influential volume Authenticity and Early Music (1988); he is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4 on musical issues. He is now an Emeritus Leverhulme Fellow, based at the Faculty of Music and Pembroke College Cambridge, researching the history of the early music revival.

Under Rosalyn Wilkinson’s tenure as Chair, Arcangelo’s artistic highlights have included two Season Residencies at Wigmore Hall, three visits to the BBC Proms, international appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Santander International Festival and a six-nation tour of South America, new audio recordings including Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine and Echo Klassik Award-winners and a GRAMMY nomination, and Arcangelo’s first-ever dedicated studio film production. Organisationally, Arcangelo has launched its own young artist scheme, the Arcangelo New Ensemblists, and dynamically grown private and organisational funding, supported by an expanded staff team.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon will take up his role following his formal appointment to the board as a trustee and director at Arcangelo’s AGM in March 2024.