Musical Chairs: November 24

KATIE NOONAN TO DIRECT MUSIC FOR GOLD COAST COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Brisbane based 5-times ARIA winner Katie Noonan is Director of Music for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games’ opening and closing ceremonies in April.

Noonan, current Artistic Director of the Queensland Music Festival for the past two years, said the ceremonies would be a “great way to showcase Queensland music and culture.”

The two events will feature 4000 people, making them the largest ever on the Gold Coast, and beamed to 1 billion people around the world.

Also in the creative team are Sydney Festival Artistic Director and theatre-maker Wesley Enoch; Bangarra Artistic Director Stephen Page, and choreographer, dancer and Dancenorth Artistic Director Kyle Page.

Brisbane choreographer and performer Nathan Wright is also involved in the opening ceremony, and Gold Coast tap dancer Drew Anthony in the closer.

MERRICK WATTS EXITS TRIPLE M

After a lengthy stint, Merrick Watts has literally hung up his headphones at Triple M.

He said that usually when he starts a new radio gig, he buys a new pair of headphones – and leaves them behind when he parts ways with the station.

“I have left to start on some very exciting projects,” he explained.

BMG PROMOTES JON BAKER

BMG promoted Jon Baker to VP of UK Legal & Business Affairs, overlooking a 12-strong team.

Joining the company in 2012 from an entertainment law firm he e was involved in BMG’s acquisitions of Infectious Music, Union Square Music, Minder Music, Ram Records and Hornall Brothers, and agreements with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Roger Waters, Morrissey and The Prodigy.

SOPHIE TILLER PARTS WAYS WITH NEWCASTLE’S HIT

After being in Newcastle hit106.9’s breakfast team for five years, Sophie Tiller has left, Radio Today reported.

Nick Gill and Simon Baggs will continue to host the breakfast show until the end of the year, with a new line up for the Hit106.9 breakfast show to be announced in due course.

NEW CREATIVE PRODUCER ROLE AT CARCLEW

Adelaide-based Carclew and Country Arts SA have jointly created a new role of Creative Producer – Youth to focus on outcomes for 12-28-year-olds living in regional community – and have hired Alysha Hermann to fill it.

She was the 2015 recipient of the Kirk Robson Award and is a current participant in the Australian Rural Leadership Program with an Australia Council scholarship.

The new role, co-funded and managed by both organisations, will focus on creating positive outcomes for young people aged 12-26 living in regional communities across South Australia.

‘A regional community arts and cultural development project was the net that caught me,’ she said.

‘I was a disconnected and disengaged high-school dropout and teenage parent and so I know the power of arts for social change, regional leadership and personal development because my journey since is proof of it.”

DIDDY, DJ KHALED, JOIN ‘THE FOUR’ TV SHOW

Diddy, DJ Khaled, Meghan Trainor and record executive Charlie Walk are on the panel of Fox’s new singing show The Four.

Diddy reckons it will “revolutionise” the format, which is why he returned to TV while the others issued statements that it was “a show like no other”.

The Four will screen in America on January 4, initially for six episodes, just ahead of ABC’s American Idol reboot and the next season of NBC’s The Voice.

It is expected to eventually screen in Australia.

PANDORA’S FATHI LANDS AT HYPETAP

Naz Fathi, Sales Manager at Pandora Australia before it shuttered its local operations, has joined Melbourne influencer business Hypetap.

The company also enlisted Unruly’s Nick Robson as its Commercial Director.

HOBART BREAKFAST TEAM CALL IT QUITS

The Paul & Woody top ratting breakfast team of four years at Hit 100.9FM Hobart have split up and are leaving Tasmania.

Impending new father Paul Hogan is heading off to WA while Esther Woodhams quipped she was “doing a Julia Roberts” and “with the Eat Pray Love thing.”

TUNECORE’S TAYLOR JOINS I AM POP

Sam Taylor, UK Brand Manager for digital distributor TuneCore, has moved over to Messenger bot startup I AM POP as Chief Commercial Officer.

The Amsterdam-based fan messaging firm which has 1.3 million monthly users has just opened offices in London for its marketing and partnership teams as the music industry increasingly embraces digital social interaction.

ARTSPACE MACKAY DIRECTOR HEADS TO CANBERRA

Julie Skate, Director at Artspace Mackay, is moving to Canberra where she takes over as CEO of Glassworks.

GUY SEBASTIAN MENTORS IN ABC’S ‘DON’T STOP THE MUSIC’

Guy Sebastian plays the mentor in a new ABC TV three-part documentary series Don’t Stop the Music currently shooting around Perth.

It follows one underprivileged school’s journey to musical literacy. It will showcase leading music educators as they train the school’s teachers, giving them new tools to teach their students to sing and play instruments donated by the larger community.

Sebastian will workshop with the kids, and encourages them to increase their playing skills.

Funding comes from Screen Australia and Screenwest and is backed by Musica Viva and the Salvation Army.

63% of primary schools in Australia offer no classroom music even though 90% of parents want it.

NEW HIRE AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

The Sydney Opera House announced Jaclyn Booton as new Senior Producer of Talks and Ideas.

She was previously based in Melbourne, as GM of the literary hub Wheeler Centre.

SUSANNAH GEORGE TO HEAD FILM/CONTENT AT OGILVY MELB

Susannah George, senior TV producer and 2IC at AJF Melbourne, has moved to Ogilvy Melbourne as Head of Film and Content Production, a newly created role, as the company expands operations/

ARTS PUBLICIST HEADS TO BANGARRA

After seven years at Acces, arts publicistsSarah Shields took over this week as Media & Communications Manager at Bangarra Dance Theatre.

NEW ROLE AS BUZZFEED EXPANDS IN APAC

As Buzzfeed ramps up its presence in the APAC region, award-winning ad industry creative Simon Veksner (he founded social creative agency Hungry Beast) will oversee all branded content from its Sydney office.

GOLD DUMPS JO & LEHMO

In a surprise move, given their top rating status, ARN said in a brief statement that jt would not be renewing the contracts for Gold 104.3 breakfast team Jo Stanley and Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann.

The pair issued a statement after the news broke: “We are disappointed as we love our audience, we love Gold 1043, and we love our team. We have both worked incredibly hard and the show’s ratings have grown consistently, culminating in becoming Melbourne’s number 1 FM breakfast show in the latest survey.”

STATE THEATRE AD HEADING TO BERLIN

Adelaide’s State Theatre Artistic Director Geordie Brookman will exit the company in April 2019 after seven yeas as he and his family are relocating to Berlin. He will concentrate on directing and his playwright wife Nicki Bloom will write her first novel.