(Credit: Opera North)

Opera North has announced the appointment of David Collins to the new role of Executive Director / Deputy CEO.

“I am delighted to announce that David Collins has accepted my invitation to be appointed Executive Director/ Deputy CEO, building on the significant contribution he has made to Opera North as Director of External Affairs over the past five years. During his tenure he has become a valued colleague and has provided crucial leadership in marketing, revenue generation, and fundraising, not least steering the £18 million Music Works fundraising campaign to transform our estate and operations while retaining a clear focus on the Company’s engagement with audiences and communities,” said Richard Mantle, General Director/ CEO at Opera North.

“His expanded remit as Executive Director and Deputy CEO will further strengthen Opera North’s senior management team at a time of real renewal and drive for the Company, as we embark on our first large scale tour since early 2020, and open our buildings to share an expanded program of artistic and participation activity with audiences across the North,” added Mantle.

“As Opera North returns to a full program of live performance and begins to realize the potential of our transformed home in Leeds I’m thrilled to be taking on this role. It remains a challenging time as we emerge from the pandemic, but there is also huge opportunity to learn lessons from the past 18 months of extraordinary change, forging new ways of making and sharing music with people across the North and around the world,” said Collins of his appointment.

Collins has been Director of External Affairs at Opera North since 2016, leading the marketing, box office, communications, digital, and development teams. Prior to joining Opera North, Collins was Head of Marketing at the Royal Shakespeare Company.