Opera North appoints new trustees

Opera North today announces the appointment of three new trustees to its Board: Anthony Freud OBE, Kaley Gardiner and Ani Kaprekar.

Together they bring a wide array of significant experience across the opera industry, business and technology, diversity and inclusion, marketing and audience development to the Company’s governance at a crucial time of evolution for the opera and the performing arts.

Anthony Freud has managed international opera companies, as general director of Welsh National Opera (1994 – 2005), Houston Grand Opera (2006 – 2011) and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, a position he held for 13 years before retiring in July 2024. In these roles he has been praised for his leadership across artistic programming, reworking and strengthening business operations and for reaching diverse new audiences through trailblazing community engagement, learning and outreach programmes. He is also a former board member of the National Opera Studio, and board chair of Opera America and Opera Europa. He received an OBE in 2006 in recognition of his services to music.

Anthony Freud comments: “Having been involved with Opera North from a distance since the early 1980s, I am thrilled to be joining the Opera North family. This is a time of great change for the performing arts in general and opera in particular, and, with my experience of running opera companies on both sides of the Atlantic, I look forward to working closely with this outstanding company and board to build on its extraordinary achievements and to secure for it an exciting and successful future.”

Manchester-based, Mumbai-born tech influencer and business leader Ani Kaprekar blends international business acumen with creative pursuits as an actor, storyteller and poet. Formally trained in Film and TV production, Ani created successful tech ventures in India and the UK. His diverse portfolio now includes coaching, mentoring and thought leadership in technology, entrepreneurship and the performing arts. Co-founder of Tech India Advocates, Ani also serves as a brand ambassador for the SheInspires Foundation and as an advisor to the GenAI-powered think tank, Diversity Economics Institute.

Ani Kaprekar comments: “I am thrilled to join the Opera North board as a trustee, leveraging my extensive experience in technology, entrepreneurship, performing arts and community engagement. I am passionate about expanding opera’s reach to diverse audiences and harnessing its transformative power to bring healing and unity in today’s world. Music uniquely bridges divides and inspires connections, and I am eager to contribute to Opera North’s mission of making opera accessible to all.”

Kaley Gardiner is a qualified executive coach, and a leader in strategic marketing, brand development, e-commerce and digital transformation. Her extensive career has ranged from agency and corporate marketing positions including group operations director, Home Marketing Agency, to entrepreneurship, building her own successful e-commerce company The Last Detail and founding Ruby Consulting, a strategic marketing and business consultancy propelling the growth of SMEs.

Kaley Gardiner comments: “I am delighted to join Opera North as a trustee, a charity I deeply admire for its extraordinary work in making opera accessible to diverse communities and creating meaningful, lasting change in people’s lives. Opera North’s commitment to engaging with the community through innovative programmes and outreach is truly inspiring. I have always believed in the life-changing impact of the arts, and I am excited to contribute to an organisation so passionately dedicated to enriching the lives of others through the power of music and performance.”

Kaley will additionally join the board of directors of Opera North Trading Ltd, the commercial arm of the company operating Kino, Opera North’s restaurant and bar on New Briggate in central Leeds, adjacent to Leeds Grand Theatre and the Howard Assembly Room. Kaley will be joined on the Opera North Trading Ltd board by food industry entrepreneur Belinda Williams.

Belinda Williams was owner founder of the North Yorkshire-based Yorkshire Provender soup brand and remains owner founder of premier catering and events business Yorkshire Party Company. Yorkshire Provender, which launched officially in 2008, was grown from a cottage industry to a multi-million pound business, employing more than 50 people and retailing in most national supermarkets. Working alongside co-founder husband Terry, who led production and finance, Belinda developed, marketed and led the brand to sale in 2017. Belinda still has an active role in Yorkshire Party Company and holds a number of non-executive director roles.

Laura Canning, General Director, Opera North, comments:

“We are delighted to welcome Anthony, Ani and Kaley to the Board of Trustees at Opera North. Each brings a huge and distinctive degree of experience, talent and professional knowledge to the Board at a crucial moment. I am also very pleased that Kaley and Belinda will additionally join the board of non-executive directors for Opera North Trading Ltd, helping us to steer the future of our commercial arm including our restaurant and bar, Kino, to support the financial future of Opera North.”