Our Team

Joanna MacGregor
Music Director & CEO

Described as ‘a brilliant light in the music world’, Joanna MacGregor CBE is an acclaimed concert pianist, conductor, composer, curator, and BPO’s fourth Music Director. Since her appointment in 2020, her orchestral programming has presented repertoire in fresh, bold ways, increasing ticket sales and bringing new faces to Brighton Dome.

Joanna is Dame Myra Hess Chair of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and continues to perform at major venues throughout the world. As a curator, she runs two annual piano festivals for young musicians, a year-round series at the Wigmore Hall, and has been Artistic Director of Dartington International Summer School, Bath International Festival, and Deloitte Ignite festival at the Royal Opera House.

Joanna is a regular broadcaster on TV and radio, making numerous appearances at the BBC Proms. She holds five honorary doctorates, including Cambridge and St Andrews Universities, and has released over 40 solo recordings, many of them on her award-winning record label SoundCircus. Her collaborative and compositional projects encompass jazz, visual art, literature and contemporary dance.

After conducting The Rite of Spring at the beginning of the 2024-25 Centenary Season, the press wrote ‘There is no doubt that versatile, energetic Joanna MacGregor […] has rapidly taken the orchestra to new heights. Her desire is to forge new audiences for BPO’s next 100 years: an orchestra of the future.

Gill Davies
Operations Director

Gill joined us in 2023 from the Music Teachers Association. Her role is to ensure the smooth running of the orchestra. From communication with members to concert management, she touches every part of how the orchestra is managed.

Harriet Waters
Operations Coordinator

Harriet joined us in 2024 from Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, where she worked for two years. Before that, she studied Music at the University of Manchester and worked a variety of ticketing, marketing and Front of House roles with The Lowry, Lymm Festival and Buxton International Festival. Since moving to Brighton in 2022, she has become an active part of the city’s music scene, performing as a session violinist in its many grassroots venues, joining folk sessions and open mics, and playing with the Sussex Symphony Orchestra.