Monday
It’s the first day back after the Christmas holidays and we’re all feeling recharged, refreshed and ready for whatever 2026 may bring. After catching up with colleagues and wishing each other a happy new year, it’s back to business and into a budget review with Sophie Whitaker, Bristol Beacon’s Finance Director. We need to present this year’s revised forecast and a balanced budget for the next financial year to our Finance Committee of Trustees in a couple of weeks. There are still some decisions to be made before the proposals can be finalised.
I have lunch with Adam Kent, our Director of Creative Learning & Engagement, who updates me on the fantastic online teacher learning resources we’ve created for primary school teachers, in partnership with Oak Academy. Our team has delivered over 200 lesson plans which are now available to teachers throughout the country. It’s a huge achievement and I’m excited to hear Adam’s plans for its launch.
Tuesday
Now that the capital project refurbishment of the halls is complete, we want to turn our attention to some of the other spaces in Bristol Beacon, including our staff offices, which are 15 years old and looking a bit tired and uninspiring. Our staff working group updates me on the plans to revitalise the main open-plan staff office, including a new kitchen, and they show me a selection of paint colours for the walls to replace the rather boring grey. We’re keen to make this happen and I confirm that a budget is in place to proceed with this improvement.
In addition to my Bristol Beacon role, I am a Director of BACH (British Association of Concert Halls) and we have our monthly online meeting to discuss our forthcoming in-person members’ meeting in London where we will be talking about ethical programming issues, strengthening our national membership of not-for-profit concert halls, and arranging a future gathering here at Bristol Beacon in the summer.
Wednesday
I attend press duties for Sunday’s organ opening recital, and I am on hand to do short interviews for local TV news and a national newspaper.
I meet with the leadership team for our regular session. There are plenty of updates to share around the table, and we welcome Frances Rosewell, our new Head of Commercial Development, who joined us just prior to the Christmas break. Frances is reviewing all of our commercial programme, which includes conferences, graduations and corporate events, as well as our catering hospitality partnerships, and we share some ideas about how to develop this further.
I spend the rest of the afternoon preparing an after-dinner speech for the charity Rotary Club Bristol, which has asked me to update them on the work of Bristol Beacon and how we have developed since the re-opening in 2023.
In the evening I catch up with Andrew Edwards, the Chief Executive of SS Great Britain (Brunel’s famous ship, docked in Bristol) over a meal. Andrew and I started our roles within a few weeks of each other, and we were both new to Bristol. Although our organisations are quite different, there’s a lot of common ground and we talk through plans for the year, shared challenges and what we’re looking forward to seeing in Bristol over the coming months.
Thursday
We promote a season of orchestral concerts at Bristol Beacon and we’re getting near to the deadline for final decisions on our 2026–27 season of 20 concerts. I meet with programming and marketing colleagues to review the season and to agree a couple of final additions. I’m particularly pleased that next season we will have a performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Birmingham-based Ex Cathedra and conductor Jeffrey Skidmore. As a choral singer, I’m very keen to hear some of the choral masterpieces performed in our hall, but I’ll have to patiently wait until March 2027 to hear the Bach.
In the evening, it’s our staff Christmas party, which is held in January because there are too many shows to deliver in December! We try to pick an evening when there’s nothing being presented in the halls, so that everyone can relax and enjoy themselves. It’s a great opportunity to get to spend time with the whole team and to thank everyone for a very full-on year of effort and hard work, which is greatly appreciated. I manage to escape before the dancing and karaoke commence, thank goodness (no-one wants to see or hear me doing that).
Friday
I start the morning at 9 a.m. on a weekly online call with other Chief Executives from national music and theatre organisations, where we receive an update on Arts Council England’s recent review by Dame Margaret Hodge. This Friday morning call is in credibly useful for keeping on top of all the important developments and ensures that we work collectively to advocate for our work, and that our voice is heard within government.
In March we will publicly launch a new five-year strategy plan for Bristol Beacon, and I spend the afternoon going through this with a working group of our Trustees. They are excited by our vision and aspiration and make some very good points about areas where we might refine the wording or be clearer about our intentions. We agree that the final version of the plan will be presented at a full board meeting later in the month.
Saturday
It’s the calm before the big day – organist Anna Lapwood is in the building, preparing the organ for its opening recital tomorrow. I drop by to introduce myself and to check that Anna has everything she needs. It’s her first time playing this organ so there’s a lot to prepare, but she seems very pleased with the sound and the quality of the refurbishment.
I spend the rest of the day relaxing with my husband Rafael and dog Rocco, and we decide to visit the nearby Cotswold town of Cirencester for a walk and a pub meal. We moved to Bristol just over a year ago and we’re still getting to know the surrounding area, so we like to stick a pin in a Google map and visit somewhere new whenever we can.
Sunday
It’s two years since the reopening of Bristol Beacon following its capital project transformation, and it is the turn of The Britton Organ to be publicly unveiled and played for the first time since its total refurbishment. Our Harrison & Harrison organ is 70 years old and was installed for the opening of the former Colston Hall in 1956.
At this afternoon’s sold-out matinee, superstar organist Anna Lapwood treats us to a wonderfully varied programme of traditional and contemporary repertoire, and it is inspiring to see the impact on audiences and young organists – our Bristol Beacon organ scholars are all in attendance and thrilled to meet her afterwards.
All the arrangements go off without a hitch – our organ project donors and supporters are expertly looked after by our Development team, and our Chair Jonathan Dimbleby gives a heartfelt speech. The pre-concert talk, hosted by Jonathan James, draws a huge crowd, and the concert itself is a triumph, with the organ sounding fantastic.
We are so lucky to have a world-class organ in Beacon Hall, alongside excellent acoustics for every type of music, and it now opens up so many opportunities for artistic exploration and performance across many music genres.
Anna returns on 17 June to play the Poulenc Organ Concerto and Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra – I can’t wait!
