British Council music director to step down

Cathy Graham OBE, who has held the role of music director at the British Council since 2007, will step down from her role on 30 June after 15 years.

The British Council, an international organisation which works to support cultural relations and education, are currently in the process of appointing Graham’s successor. Senior music programme manager Joel Mills will be acting music director until a successor is found.

During her time in the role, Graham’s achievements include coordinating global celebrations for the Britten Centenary, organising over 200 events by UK musicians all over Russia as part of the UK-Russia Year of Music (2019 – 2020), the Transform Orchestral Leadership project in collaboration with the Association of British Orchestras (ABO) over three years in Brazil and the development of British new music radio show Selector Radio.

Graham also helped to set up the World Voice programme which trained over 12,000 teachers globally to promote the benefits of singing alongside education. The programme finished in March 2020 and its legacy has been taken on by the Sing Up Foundation. You can find out more about this development here.

Having studied Music at Birmingham University, Graham spent two years studying piano accompaniment at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), where she now holds an Honorary membership awarded in 2018. After spending 14 years in Stockholm working as a professional musician, Graham has held roles including artist manager with ENO Contemporary Music Studio and Almeida Opera, executive director of the Society for the Promotion of New Music and managing director of the London Sinfonietta.

Graham’s other accolades include the 2019 ABO Award and an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for 'services to music and cultural relations' in October 2020 as part of Her Majesty the Queen's Birthday Honours list. She is chair of music charity Streetwise Opera, a board member of the International Society for Performing Arts and a national music advisor to the Arts Council of Wales.

You can find out more about the British Council’s music programmes here.