Director for Oxford University's £150m new concert hall announced

John Fulljames was previously the director of opera at the Royal Danish Opera and Royal Danish Orchestra

The first director of Oxford University's new £150m concert hall has been appointed.

John Fulljames joins the new Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, which will open in 2025.

He will be in charge of the university's Humanities Cultural Programme (HCP), which will be based at the centre, from later this month.

Mr Fulljames was previously the director of opera at the Royal Danish Opera and Royal Danish Orchestra.

He was in that role from 2017 until earlier this year. He also founded The Opera Group, which partnered with the Young Vic in London.

The new centre will include a 500-seat concert hall, a 250-seat theatre and a 100-seat space for experimental performances.

Mr Fulljames said he was "very excited by this utterly unique opportunity to lead a multi-disciplinary arts centre".

The new centre is a "modern interpretation of a traditional Oxford building"

"I see this as an opportunity not only to create something new to Oxford, but to work with a whole new generation of artists and companies and support them to do things which have never been done before," he said.

The HCP aims to "bring the world's leading performers and emerging artists across different cultural fields" to the city.

The programme, which first launched in 2019, and the concert hall were made possible by a £175m gift from Stephen A. Schwarzman, the chairman, chief executive and co-founder of investment firm Blackstone.

Prof Dan Grimley, Oxford University's head of humanities, said he was "delighted" to recruit a "world-class cultural leader" in Mr Fulljames.

"[Mr Fulljames] brings invaluable experience in directing major productions at world-renowned venues, as well as an entrepreneurial flair evidenced by his successful opera start-up," he said.

"These experiences will help us to produce innovative cultural programming which brings Oxford's humanities research to new audiences within Oxford and across the world."