The newly appointed festival director and CEO of Canterbury Festival on why she’s so well-suited to the role, what we can look forward to this year – and on her own impressive Kent ‘claim to fame’…
Congratulations on your new role, Susannah! You must be very excited…
Excited and feeling very privileged - this is a dream job for me. As a school-girl growing up near Chatham and later at university, I sang in choirs, played my violin in local orchestras, and took ballroom and Latin dancing classes - I’ve always been an incorrigible joiner-inner! Professionally, I’ve worked for all sorts of arts organisations, including London’s South Bank Centre, The British Library and, most recently, as Artistic Director at Charleston Festival in East Sussex. I’m really looking forward to bringing my skills together in Canterbury, creating a platform for all sorts of performers and coming back to my roots.
What makes the festival special?
It’s sheer diversity – music, performance, walks, talks, visual arts – we’ve got the lot! Where else could you listen to medieval Byrd sung in Canterbury Cathedral’s crypt, enjoy a DJ set from Don Letts of ‘punky-reggae’ fame and watch innovative visual performance for all ages at the Tape Face Show? Or hear historian Bettany Hughes on the Seven Wonders of the archaeological world and the wonderful Maggie Aderin-Pocock bringing space to life? And it’s an International Arts Festival - as a former French and German student, I’m passionate about showcasing not just our local talent, but talent from across the world and that’s something Canterbury Festival certainly does.
What events are especially looking forward to?
It’s hard to know where to start – Amanda McKean, who’s been acting at interim director in this, our 40th year, has created such an imaginative programme. The calibre of the musicians we’re welcoming this year is amazing. I’m especially excited about Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason as I’ve seen them perform and they more than live up to the hype. Plus we’ve got the phenomenal Tenebrae choir, and rock band The Feeling – as a Millennial myself, I only had to hear they were on the bill and I started humming their greatest hits. And with two young children of my own, I’m especially passionate about the youth engagement projects we do year-round and the festival family events – bring on Mr Sleepybum!.
Come November, when you’re in-post, what will your priorities be?
First and foremost, I’ll be getting out there and meeting as many of our stakeholders - sponsors, volunteers and supporters - as possible, as well as building connections within Kent’s creative community. We have such a thriving arts scene within the county, from The Mess Room in Chatham, with its workshops and smaller exhibitions, to performance group 1927 and Cement Fields, which works in North Kent to create new art along the Thames estuary – so many exciting things to tap into!
How will it feel to be back in Kent?
Like coming full-circle. My family are still here and I have so many memories - say ‘Dymchurch’ and I’ll immediately think of childhood family holidays with train rides and fish & chips. And, funnily enough, I was actually involved as a child in the Canterbury Festival, in a production of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde – in my furry costume, I played a rather overheated squirrel!
But we’ve heard that’s possibly not your greatest performance…
No – I think that has to be when I was dressed head-to-toe in frilly Victorian lace as a one-year old and my mum proudly took me off to the annual Dickens Festival in Rochester, where I won the ‘cutest baby’ competition. If that doesn’t prove my bona-fide Kent credentials, nothing will!
Canterbury Festival runs Oct 19 – Nov 2 canterburyfestival.co.uk
