Catherine Reiser, Director Melbourne Program

Before joining the Observership Program Catherine worked at a senior level in the arts for 30 years. Working closely with government & council agencies and raising funds from corporates, Catherine led, managed and motivated diverse teams to immoveable budgets and deadlines. In London Catherine produced seventeen productions for award-winning theatre company, Complicite, three as co-productions with The National Theatre and four in London’s West End. As Director of The Islington International Festival and Associate Director of The Mayor’s Thames Festival Catherine programmed large scale spectacle for combined audiences of over 2.5 million. Catherine co-produced Sing For Water, (a mass choir concert raising funds for clean water and sanitation education, delivered by WaterAid), for Brisbane Riverfest and, with City of Melbourne for the Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival. She has worked as a consultant for the Australia Council and made two documentaries, “Women of the Sun 25 years Later and Lindsay’s Reserve. She was a visiting lecturer in Arts Management at London’s City University and Birkbeck College and is also an alumnus of Common Purpose leadership program.