Samir Savant appointed Chief Executive of St George’s Bristol

Following the departure of Suzanne Rolt last month to Quartet Community Foundation, the Trustees of St George’s Bristol are delighted to announce the appointment of Samir Savant as the organisation’s new Chief Executive. Samir will take up the role on 1 September, and joins from the London Handel Festival, where he has been Festival Director for five years.

The Trustees were impressed by Samir’s experience, energy and vision for the organisation. Samir brings deep understanding and broad experience as an artistic leader from his various roles at London’s arts and music institutions. His passion for innovation, and knowledge of audience engagement, partnership working and business development will drive the organisation’s key ambitions over the next chapter.

Samir joins St George’s as it strengthens its work to create inspirational musical experiences for broader audiences across contemporary, classical, folk, jazz, world music and spoken word programmes. Samir will work with the Trustees and team to ensure the organisation is poised to meet the challenges and opportunities of a changing cultural sector and societal landscape.

Samir Savant, incoming Chief Executive, St George’s Bristol, said:

‘I am thrilled to accept this prestigious position and to build on the excellent work done by Suzanne and the team over the past fifteen years. I will miss the London Handel Festival of course, but I am proud of everything I have achieved over the past five years, culminating in our award-winning ‘Messiah Reimagined’ project.

St George’s already has a wonderful reputation for classical music, and I am particularly drawn to its eclectic programme which is expanding in many interesting directions, a rich calendar of events with everything from Qawwali to Armistead Maupin. I look forward to getting to know the audiences and artists, supporters and stakeholders. I am keen for St George’s to be considered the natural home for a broad range of creative communities, from local to international.’

Ben Heald, Chair, St George’s Bristol, said:

‘Samir has a deep love of music, is a musician himself and won us over with his energy, ideas and vision for St George’s. You might think he’s a baroque specialist, coming from the London Handel Festival, but dig a little deeper and he’s brimming with ideas and insights from his wide love of music and the performing arts. He’s also got a very strong set of skills from his roles at the English National Opera, Royal Academy, Shakespeare’s Globe, Royal College of Music and most recently the London Handel Festival. We are hoping Bristol is going to give him a warm welcome following his very good decision to join us all in the west country.’