Bristol Music Trust, the organisation that runs Colston Hall, has appointed experienced arts manager Clare Jack to the role of chief operating officer. 
Clare, pictured, joins from Bath Festivals, where she was development director.
She brings more than nine years’ experience in the arts industry having worked as executive director of the Wiltshire Music Centre for six years – where she oversaw a significant development and fundraising budget - and as finance and operations manager for Salisbury International Arts Festival.
Before working in the arts sector she had an extensive career in private sector change management, including with Barclays Bank, 3i, PwC and IBM.
As chief operating officer, Clare will be responsible for driving forward the financial imperatives of Bristol Music Trust to support, develop and sustain its charitable objectives.
Her arrival also comes as Colston Hall, the South West’s largest concert hall, prepares for the next phase of its multi-million pound transformation.
The venue, which recently celebrated its 150th anniversary with a series of free events, plans to undergo a £48.8m upgrade starting next year – the biggest ever redevelopment in the Bristol’s arts sector. So far it has raised more than two-thirds of the total.
Bristol Music Trust chief executive Louise Mitchell said: “We are delighted that Clare will be joining us at such an important time for Bristol Music Trust and Colston Hall. Clare has an outstanding track record of shaping the commercial and operational arms of businesses, as well as being a passionate lover of music and the arts.
“She will be vital to our work of ensuring the success of our exciting transformation project and helping us to be business-ready for the reopening of our concert hall in 2020.”
Clare takes up her new role next month, when she will join Colston Hall’s senior management team responsible for implementing Bristol Music Trust’s strategy across their individual departments and taking an overview of the day-to-day running of Colston Hall and Bristol Plays Music, its education arm.
Colston Hall is the last concert hall in a major UK city not to have undergone a major redevelopment since the 1980s.
