Andrew Comben is the chief executive of Brighton Dome and Festival.
What do you do for Brighton Festival?
I’m chief executive of Brighton Dome and Festival. The great thing about my job is that there isn’t a typical day. It can involve meetings with companies, Brighton and Hove City Council, the Arts Council, to the Finance Committee. I lead the team both managerially and artistically which can be quite hectic as one of the largest arts venues in the South East and largest arts festivals in the country.
How do you choose the guest directors? How much do they choose in the programme?
There is a complex set of questions to answer when thinking about who’s best to be guest director for Brighton Festival, but most of all I’m looking for someone who captures the spirit of this city and can express it powerfully – through their own creativity or through the values they symbolise. The practicalities of working with each different guest director varies enormously from year to year.
Community is important to the Dome – how do you involve the regular folk in the performing arts?
Brighton Dome has many projects that run year round, all aimed at involving the widest possible number of people in all the work we do. We host regular open days, we hold workshops for people of various ages and abilities. And crucially we work with various groups from across the region, in targeted and specific creative work developed especially for them.
Is there something which kick started your interest in art and culture?
I grew up as a chorister and some of my earliest memories are of unaccompanied choral singing, so that’s something I always come back to. Fabrica’s presentation of Janet Cardiff’s 40-part motet this year is an incredibly nostalgic experience for me for that reason.
What will be highlight of the festival for you?
I’m particularly looking forward to Mexico’s Teatro de Ciertos Habitantes who are making their first visit to the UK. They are bringing Monsters And Prodigies – a riotous music theatre piece about castrati – and El Gallo which is co-commissioned by Brighton Festival.
WORDS BY BILL ROBINSON
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