Susanna Eastburn

Susanna Eastburn took up the role of Chief Executive of Sound and Music (www.soundandmusic.org) in September 2012. This is the latest senior appointment in a varied career that has most recently included being Director, Music at Arts Council England from 2008-2012. Her first role was in music publishing, working at Music Sales Ltd with a number of leading composers including Judith Weir, Kaija Saariaho and Esa-Pekka Salonen. At the age of 31 she was appointed as Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, a role she fulfilled between 2000-2004, when she was selected to be a Fellow on the inaugural year of the Clore Leadership Programme, an initiative to identify and develop leadership in the UK’s cultural sector.

She is a Trustee of Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, as well as being a member of The Queen’s Medal for Music Committee. In 2018 she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for Services to Music, whilst in 2017 she was awarded a Gold Badge Award by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in recognition of her support for the songwriting and composing community. She is a keen chamber musician and plays the viola.