Vancouver Opera Appoints Next General Director

Kim Gaynor

Vancouver Opera has announced the appointment of Kim Gaynor as its next general director, replacing Jim Wright following his retirement at the end of this season. 

Gaynor brings to the position more than 30 years in senior positions with cultural and performing arts institutions and festivals in Canada, the UK, and continental Europe. She comes to Vancouver Opera from the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, where she has served as managing director for 10 years. 

Prior to her time with the Verbier Festival, she worked as managing director and co-founder of Festival Retz, a chamber music and chamber opera festival in Austria; administrator of the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition in London, UK; and head of marketing administration at Royal Opera House, London. In Canada, Gaynor served as administrative director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, marketing director of The National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and managing director of L’Opéra de Montréal. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, she began her career as a touring officer with Canada Council for the Arts. She holds an MBA from York University, where she concentrated on arts and media administration, and a BA in Canadian Studies from the University of Toronto. 

Gaynor currently resides in Switzerland and will relocate to Vancouver at the completion of this year’s Verbier Festival, in August, 2016. Vancouver Opera makes the transition to a festival model in Spring 2017.