Post by Kev on Apr 30, 2004 5:21:18 GMT -5
ERPOOL'S worldwide hunt for the person to mastermind its 2008 celebrations has come to an end in Australia.
International singer, writer and festival organiser Robyn Archer has been appointed as artistic director for the city's year as European Capital of Culture.
Born in Adelaide, she has an international reputation for developing cultural festivals, including the National Festival of Australian Theatre in Canberra.
Her £100,000-plus role will be to develop and oversee an outstanding year of culture leading up to and including the city's 800th birthday in 2007 and European Capital of Culture in 2008.
Ms Archer, who plans to move to Liverpool full-time in 2006, said: "I would not simply want to drag my favourite artists into Liverpool and think it would work because it won't.
"My first job is to meet the existing cultural leaders in the city. I really want to hear what their aspirations are.
"I am thrilled to have this opportunity. When I asked people on the streets of Liverpool what they thought of Capital of Culture, I got nothing but excitement out of them."
A champion of music theatre, the European cabaret tradition and the culture of Germany's Weimar Republic, Ms Archer is known in Britain for Songs for Bad Times, she recorded with the London Sinfonietta, and her one-woman show.
She appeared in A Star is Torn which ran for more than a year in London, and radio and television shows during the 1980s.
She was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2000 and a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2001 for her work in co-ordinating international festivals.
Ms Archer remembers sleeping on the streets of Adelaide to buy a ticket for a Beatles concert.
However, her love of Liverpool lies deeper than Beatlemania.
She first visited the city in the late-1970s with the late John Willett, journalist and author of Art in the City, a book about Liverpool.
He introduced her to poet Adrian Henri and they became life-long friends.
Council leader Mike Storey said: "Robyn was the outstanding candidate. She has a global reputation and a proven track record.
"Liverpool needs someone with the vision and flair to create a programme like nowhere else on earth."
International singer, writer and festival organiser Robyn Archer has been appointed as artistic director for the city's year as European Capital of Culture.
Born in Adelaide, she has an international reputation for developing cultural festivals, including the National Festival of Australian Theatre in Canberra.
Her £100,000-plus role will be to develop and oversee an outstanding year of culture leading up to and including the city's 800th birthday in 2007 and European Capital of Culture in 2008.
Ms Archer, who plans to move to Liverpool full-time in 2006, said: "I would not simply want to drag my favourite artists into Liverpool and think it would work because it won't.
"My first job is to meet the existing cultural leaders in the city. I really want to hear what their aspirations are.
"I am thrilled to have this opportunity. When I asked people on the streets of Liverpool what they thought of Capital of Culture, I got nothing but excitement out of them."
A champion of music theatre, the European cabaret tradition and the culture of Germany's Weimar Republic, Ms Archer is known in Britain for Songs for Bad Times, she recorded with the London Sinfonietta, and her one-woman show.
She appeared in A Star is Torn which ran for more than a year in London, and radio and television shows during the 1980s.
She was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2000 and a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2001 for her work in co-ordinating international festivals.
Ms Archer remembers sleeping on the streets of Adelaide to buy a ticket for a Beatles concert.
However, her love of Liverpool lies deeper than Beatlemania.
She first visited the city in the late-1970s with the late John Willett, journalist and author of Art in the City, a book about Liverpool.
He introduced her to poet Adrian Henri and they became life-long friends.
Council leader Mike Storey said: "Robyn was the outstanding candidate. She has a global reputation and a proven track record.
"Liverpool needs someone with the vision and flair to create a programme like nowhere else on earth."
