Meet our Team and our Board:
Meet the team and our board who are responsible for the running of the Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival and the three strands of our work.
Simon Hart
For the past thirty years Simon has enjoyed a busy, successful and varied career in the arts. A graduate of the University of Glasgow, the Royal College of Music and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Simon has worked as a classical singer, actor in theatre and TV, musical director and singing teacher with leading UK cultural institutions such as Scottish Opera, Dundee Rep, the Royal Lyceum Theatre, RADA, and the universities of Queen Margaret, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
Before joining the festival, Simon was the CEO of the Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre on the Isle of North Uist. Previous to that, Simon was the artistic director and CEO of Puppet Animation Scotland, championing puppetry, visual theatre and animation nationally and internationally primarily through the organisation’s two national festivals, the MANIPULATE Festival and the Puppet Animation Festival.
Email: simon@dgartsfestival.org.uk
Aisling Anderson
Aisling has graduated with a First Class Honours in Drama, at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. She now splits her time between the city, and her home region of Dumfries and Galloway. Before her move back to Dumfries, Aisling has worked as a freelance Producer for multiple theatre organisations in Edinburgh including the Edinburgh Footlights, and her own theatre company. Aisling grew up in Lockerbie, and found her passion for theatre and music through local groups- she now enjoys singing, playing fiddle in a ceilidh band, and performing as part of the Edinburgh Fringe. She is thoroughly enjoying being back in her home town, working for an organisation that brought her so many wonderful opportunities as a younger girl. Email: Aisling@dgartsfestival.org.uk
Liam Russell
Liam Russell is a creative producer based in Dumfries and Galloway. Liam has been the creative lead behind the development of UP YER AIRTS over the last four years. Joining the Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival team amidst the global pandemic, he has used his creativity and innovation to steer and build the project from the ground up, with a programme of engaging, accessible opportunities planned for 2024. Liam has built UP YER AIRTS to be a vehicle for experiential learning opportunities designed to give young people a platform to explore their creative practice, and plan for a future career in the creative industries.
Liam is also the Founder of Stomping Ground Creative, a company dedicated to providing music production and education services in Dumfries and Galloway.
Claudia Wood
| Claudia has worked in music education for more than 10 years and currently teaches piano and singing in Dumfries & Galloway. Before returning to the region, Claudia worked for Wiltshire Music Connect, Wiltshire’s former music education hub for schools (now GSW Music Hub), supporting teachers to deliver a broad range of music-making activity for children and young people. Also, a professional opera singer, Claudia studied at Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Wales International Academy of Voice, and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. She continues to study with Professor Susan McCulloch, having previously worked with Dennis O’Neil CBE and Gail Pearson. Claudia is a recipient of the Wagner Society of Scotland’s 2018 Bayreuth Scholarship and looks forward to joining the Chorus of Scottish Opera later this year. As a musician who grew up in rural Scotland, she understands the challenges faced by emerging artists living in Dumfries & Galloway and is passionate about access to live music & theatre, as well as creating pathways to professional work and further afield.
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Mark Alexander
Mark has worked in theatres from Aberdeen to Arnhem, doing every job from general manager to ice cream seller, for the last 48 years.
He trained as an actor at The Drama Studio, London, after a degree in English and Theatre from Lancaster University. After ten years as an actor, Mark joined commercial manager Charles Vance as production manager and later General Manager of Harlow Playhouse. Mark has directed, and designed lights and sets, for many shows, and is an enthusiastic veteran of over 50 pantomimes.
During his eight years as Production Manager and member of the senior management team at Oldham Coliseum, Mark supervised over fifty productions and a major refit of the theatre. Mark has an unusual breadth of experience, having worked in subsidised regional producing theatres, commercial No.1 theatre touring, summer repertory, rural & small scale touring, Shakespeare, musicals, open air and promenade theatre, in venues from village halls to Manchester Royal Exchange and the Dutch National Theatre, including many theatres in Scotland, and several shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Mark was General Manager of the Lowther Pavilion in Lytham St Annes and has been in his current post as Director of the Theatre Royal Dumfries for the last seven years. He lives in Moniaive with his actress/director/writer partner Sue McCormick.
Dani Rae
Dani Rae is Managing Director of Assembly Festival, the longest running multi-venue operator on the Edinburgh Fringe. Over the last 20 years, Dani has worked with some of the UK and Europe’s leading arts organisations including: Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, Aurora Nova, Imaginate, Tron Theatre, Scottish Opera, Stellar Quines, Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival and Live Theatre.
Assembly also produces the Edinburgh Food Festival and with partners Unique Events, Edinburgh’s Christmas and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay.
Originally from Dumfries & Galloway, Dani is proud to be part of D&G Arts Festival, an integral part of the arts and cultural landscape of the region.
Katy Taylor
Katy Taylor is the Artistic Director & CEO of Queens Hall Arts in Hexham, where she has led ambitious programming, championed community engagement and developed strong partnerships across the arts sector.
Before joining Queens Hall Arts, she was the Artistic Director of The Witham in Barnard Castle, where she played a key role in the redevelopment of a Victorian music hall into a vibrant arts and community venue.
At Queens Hall Arts, Katy has continued to lead innovative projects, including Illuminated Sheep, the Key Change Youth Music Festival, and the first Hexham Pride.
Katy divides her time between Dumfries & Galloway and Northumberland, enjoying the unique landscapes and rich cultural heritage of the borderlands between England and Scotland.
Sarah Dhesi
Sarah Dhesi has been an HR generalist for nearly 20 years. She is currently semi-retired and working for Pioneer Foodservice whose vans can frequently be seen on the roads of Dumfries and Galloway. For thirteen years she constituted the entire HR department however she is now very happy to share the nurturing and support of over 400 employees with her wonderful new boss!
She has been a keen amateur actor since her student days at Strathclyde University where she took part in productions with the award-winning Strathclyde Theatre Group (STG) one of the highlights of which was performing in an adaptation of a George Mackay Brown short story in front of the great man himself in Orkney.
Since moving to Dumfries and Galloway she has performed frequently with Langholm Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (strictly on the dramatic side). Currently she enjoys appearing as the Reader for the Galloway Consort who specialise in the performing of European music from the 15th – 17th centuries on instruments constructed to be historically accurate.
She also enjoys reading and writing.
Luke Welch
Luke is a performer who has lived in Dumfries & Galloway since 2012. He participated in weekly drama workshops at Moffat Youth Theatre (now Studio Moffat) and has previously performed in shows and helped facilitate workshops there. This led to him earning a Gold Drama Leaders Award, following his participation in a pilot scheme run by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2022.
Luke is actively involved with a number of arts organisations across the region including Performance Collective Stranraer, The Usual Place, Studio Moffat, Make Change/Collective and most recently Bear Pursuit theatre company, performing in their outdoor Shakespeare show, ‘Much Ado at the Multiverse’. He has previously been involved in Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival’s youth programme, formerly known as Stage It. At the time of writing, he is in his third year of studying a BA (Honours) history course with the Open University.
From a young age, Luke has particularly enjoyed the art of comedy. Having been inspired by several comedians in recent years, he has performed stand-up comedy routines at the Wigtown Book Festival, Brave New Words and open mic nights hosted by Paragon Music.
In April 2023, Luke participated in a project named ‘Soundwave’, led by sound artist Liam Russell. This resulted in the formation a new band, ‘Great Understate’, who have since released two singles, ‘Last Protest’ and ‘Fever’, which can be listened to on all streaming platforms.