The Welsh National Opera has announced that Yvette Vaughan Jones has been appointed as Chair of the Board of Directors, with immediate effect.

Jones has extensive experience of working in the arts both in the UK and internationally and is the first woman in the Company’s history to hold the role of Chair of WNO.  Jones has worked for independent arts organizations, the Arts Council of Wales – where she set up Wales Arts International – local authorities, and Welsh Government.

“I am thrilled at the opportunity to take on the Chair of Welsh National Opera at this time and am acutely aware of the eminence of previous Chairs who have done such a fine job. WNO is a fantastic organization whose origins are well known to have been formed in the community choirs for which Wales is rightly famous,” stated Jones in a press release. “I think that National organizations will need to be very different in the 21st century.  There is an ever-increasing need to show how the national companies reflect the widely differing interests of the people of Wales and England from Anglesey to Ely.”

The company also announced that five new members have also been appointed to the WNO Board of Directors giving more strength to the areas including governance, finance, diversity, Welsh language, and higher education. Among the appointments include Lynne Berry OBE, who will take on the position of Senior Independent Director,  Manon Edwards Ahir, Head of News, Media and Digital at the National Assembly for Wales,  Aileen Richards, former Executive Vice President of Mars, Incorporated, Dr. Chitra Bharucha MBE, former Deputy Director, Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service, and Consultant Clinical Haematologist, Belfast City Hospital, and Nicola Amery, former Operations Director at Spire Healthcare plc.

The appointments will now take the Board to 13 serving members.