Met News
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
David Agnew to be Director of The Met
The new Director of The Met, Bury’s Live Arts Venue, will be David Agnew. David’s appointment was confirmed last week at a meeting of The Met’s executive committee, following a two month national recruitment campaign. He will be taking up the position immediately.
The Director is the senior member of The Met’s staff, in charge of the venue’s management and programming. David is the seventh Director in The Met’s thirty year history. He succeeds Ged Kelly, who left the venue in December to travel the world.
Although new to the big chair, David is not unfamiliar with The Met. He has worked at the venue since 2001, originally as Marketing Manager and more recently as Administration and Marketing Director. David has been Acting Director since Ged Kelly’s departure in December.
David’s appointment comes mid season at The Met, with some exciting projects already underway. The Met is managing the Thwaites Beers Ramsbottom Rhythm and Blues Festival, a street festival in Bury town centre in June, and an outdoor music festival in Radcliffe town centre in July. This year is already proving to be a record one for The Met, with ticket sales for events more than 50% ahead of those at this point in 2004.
Commenting upon his appointment, David said:
This is an exciting time to take over at The Met. Ged Kelly has left us with an impressive reputation for our music programme upon which I plan to build a national profile for our work in presenting touring music, theatre and film, working with national and international arts organisations. The Met is a great resource for Greater Manchester and I plan to position the organisation at the very centre of arts activity in Bury. By developing a national profile for our work, I hope that our potential audiences will visit our events and understand the purpose of our programme - to deliver exciting and unique experiences in live performance.
Problems with The Met building will be rectified this summer by renovation work funded by Bury Metropolitan Borough Council. We have already improved our presentation of events with a new sound system and new curtains bought with an Arts Council England grant. Our plan and vision for the next 10 years will be unveiled in July 2005, which will include continued development and reinvention of the building. We intend to take our present audiences and supporters along with us on this exciting period of change.
With solid support from Bury Metropolitan Borough Council and Arts Council England, a dedicated and skilled staff and the opportunity available through the work already established at The Met giving us a firm foundation for our future plans, I look forward to leading the organisation towards our goal as a national arts centre with a strong vision and considerable reputation for our work.
David Agnew was born in Armagh (Northern Ireland) in 1974. The son of Robert Agnew, Assistant and Executive Director of Belfast Festival at Queens 1980-2000, he grew up in an environment steeped in the arts. Since graduating from University in 1996 he has worked for the Belfast Festival, the Melton Theatre (Melton Mowbray), the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the M.E.N. Arena and Stockport’s Romiley Forum (where he was Theatre Manager). He is a member of the executive board of Arts About Manchester, Greater Manchester’s arts marketing consortium. David is recently married and lives in Manchester.