Edinburgh International Festival hire Linehan

The Edinburgh International Festival has turned to Australia for a new figurehead for the second time in a row by appointing Fergus Linehan as its new director.
Fergus Linehan replaces Jonathan Mills as EIF director. Picture: ContributedFergus Linehan replaces Jonathan Mills as EIF director. Picture: Contributed
Fergus Linehan replaces Jonathan Mills as EIF director. Picture: Contributed

• Fergus Linehan to take director role at Edinburgh International Festival

• Irishman will replace Australian Jonathan Mills, who will step down after seven years as EIF chief

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Fergus Linehan, a former artistic director of the Sydney Festival and head of music at Sydney Opera House, will start work on Scotland’s most prestigious arts event within weeks.

Jonathan Mills: Stepping down. Picture: TSPLJonathan Mills: Stepping down. Picture: TSPL
Jonathan Mills: Stepping down. Picture: TSPL

The 43-year-old Irishman, who made his name on Dublin’s theatre scene, will succeed Australian impresario Jonathan Mills, who has been at the helm of the EIF since 2006, when he steps down next year.

However, he has agreed to work part-time on the EIF for the next 18 months and is expected to spend this summer in Edinburgh, where he has previously lived for almost a year.

He hailed Edinburgh as the world’s “pre-eminent festival city” and described the EIF job as the prime arts post in the world, saying he was “over the moon” to be appointed.

Mr Linehan, who has previously been an “artistic associate” to Mr Mills during his time at the EIF, will be responsible for programming at least five festivals in Edinburgh, from 2015 onwards.

An acclaimed producer, curator and cultural commentator, he is a household name in arts circles in both Australia and his native Ireland. He has lived between Australia and London in recent years.

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He has brought a number of shows to the EIF while the Dublin Theatre Festival also won a coveted Scotsman Fringe First for the Traverse Theatre show Bedbound while Linehan was at the helm. He also took the National Theatre of Scotland’s first major hit, Black Watch, to Sydney.

Mr Linehan’s father, also Fergus, was a successful author and playwright, as well as an arts editor of The Irish Times, while his mother Rosaleen is one of Ireland’s best known actresses.

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Mr Linehan, who is currently director of Sydney’s Vivid Live festival, declared he was “delighted and deeply honoured” to land the post. He will move to Edinburgh next year with his partner Sophie, who is due to give birth to their first child next month.

He told The Scotsman: “It’s always been the gold-standard event for as long as I can remember.

“I remember my father coming to Edinburgh every year and telling me all about it and I started going myself when I was old enough.

“I think I’ve only missed one August in Edinburgh since about 1998 and we actually lived there for a while after I left the Sydney Festival. I’ve know Jonathan for a good while, since we were young festival directors in Australia.

“I gave it a lot of thought before I applied, but it’s the kind of job that doesn’t come up very often and is the real stand-out position in the arts anywhere in the world. I didn’t know when the chance would come up again.”

Linehan was a somewhat controversial appointment as the first overseas artistic director of the Sydney Festival, but wowed the critics during his tenure, which was also a major commercial success for the event.

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Brian Wilson, Bjork, Grace Jones and Elvis Costello were among the big-name acts he lured to the Sydney Festival.

He had already worked with rock icon Lou Reed and his wife Laurie Anderson on the Vivid Live festival, which is staged at the opera house, prior to his appointment there, initially as head of contemporary music.

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Recent projects have included securing pioneering electro-pop icons Kraftwerk for a run at the opera house performing their iconic albums.

Prior to moving to Australia, Mr Linehan spent five years at the helm of the Dublin Theatre Festival, where he commissioned new work from leading writers like Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel and Roddy Doyle.

He was a co-founder and director of Dublin’s Pigsback Theatre Company in the late 1980s before going on to manage the city’s Tivoli Theatre.

He added: “I look forward to safeguarding the founding principles of the festival in ways which are engaging and relevant to all.

“In particular, I look forward to moving to Edinburgh to serve the devoted festival-goers and artists from Scotland and around the world, who have grown to love this wonderful institution over the past seven decades.

“Successful festivals respond to both place and provenance to create a unique identity and this is particularly true of Edinburgh, the pre-eminent festival city.

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“It is with this in mind that I will begin the exciting work of developing my plans and ideas for 2015 and for future festivals.”

Donald Wilson, Edinburgh’s Lord Provost, and chair of the festival’s governing body, which led the process to replace Mr Mills, said: “Fergus brings new skills, intellectual rigour and a highly successful track record to the Edinburgh International Festival and the city.”

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Iain Munro, the acting chief executive of national arts agency Creative Scotland, said: “Fergus Linehan comes with a wealth of experience which will be of great benefit in ensuring Edinburgh International Festival remains one of the world’s pre-eminent festivals.”

Profile: ‘Sydney’s favourite Irishman’

Born in May 1969, Fergus Linehan graduated in English and classics from Dublin University 20 years later, when he also helped found the Pigsback Theatre Company in the city.

He had a three-year spell running the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin before being appointed deputy director and general manager of the Irish capital’s flagship theatre festival in 1994.

Five years later, he took charge of the event and was responsible for the development of a “Festival Fringe” – and doubling box office takings.

He was dubbed “Sydney’s favourite Irishman” after becoming the first overseas boss of the city’s arts festival in 2004, winning critical acclaim and breaking the event’s box office records.

After a spell as an artistic associate at the Edinburgh International Festival, which involved advising director Jonathan Mills on theatre and dance elements of his programming, Mr Linehan was appointed head of contemporary music at Sydney Opera House in July 2010 and has also been director of Vivid Live, a music festival at the venue.

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