Some news from the Aurora office team
7 January 2026
After nearly 17 years with Aurora, Chief Executive John Harte will be moving on to become Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra when Dame Kathryn McDowell DBE steps down in the summer.
Working closely with Nicholas Collon and Jane Mitchell, John has been at the heart of Aurora’s success for the best part of two decades, and his appointment to the LSO is a tribute to all that they and the wider Aurora team have achieved together. We wish him all possible success and happiness in his new role.
John will be continuing in post until his departure in July; Aurora’s board has initiated a process to recruit his successor and a comprehensive search will begin shortly. He leaves Aurora in a position of great artistic and organisational strength, with a vibrant concert programme both in London and on tour, a thriving educational offer and a skilled and experienced management team and board.
Full press release follows below:
The London Symphony Orchestra have today announced that John Harte, Chief Executive of Aurora Orchestra since 2009, is to become Managing Director of the orchestra when Dame Kathryn McDowell DBE steps down in the summer of 2026.
Alongside Principal Conductor Nicholas Collon and Creative Director Jane Mitchell, John has built Aurora from a startup into one of the most successful new British arts organisations in recent decades. Under their shared leadership the orchestra has developed vibrant residencies at London’s Southbank Centre and Kings Place and delivered a series of critically-acclaimed Orchestral Theatre projects, notably as highlights of the BBC Proms. Its work has attracted awards internationally including the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Ensemble Award, the Classical:NEXT Innovation Award and the Grand Prix at the Golden Prague International TV Festival.
In response to the announcement, John Harte said: “It has been an unparalleled privilege and delight to play a part in Aurora’s journey, and I count myself hugely fortunate to have been able to help bring to fruition some of the many brilliant ideas which Jane, Nicholas and our wider creative teams have dreamed up over an extraordinarily productive past 16 years. Aurora has never been in a stronger place, and I have no doubt that its impact – both artistic and educational – will only continue to grow over the coming years.”
Dame Liz Forgan DBE, Chair of Trustees said; “John has been at the heart of Aurora’s creative and business development for the best part of two decades, and his appointment to the LSO is a tribute to all that he and Aurora have achieved together. We wish him all possible success and happiness. John will continue in post until his departure in July; the board has initiated the process to recruit his successor and a comprehensive search will begin shorty.”
Nicholas Collon and Jane Mitchell said; “It has been the most rewarding and thrilling journey to build Aurora into what it is now, alongside such a wonderful and inspiring colleague as John. We are so grateful for everything he has given to Aurora; his hard-working dedication, his daring sense of ambition, and his profound humanity. It is testament to his work that we and the brilliant Aurora management team and players can look forward to such a bright and exciting future – our next year alone includes memorised performances across the length and breadth of the UK, an Orchestral Theatre staging of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring which opens Southbank Centre’s Multitudes Festival, and our most ambitious international tour to date, while our pioneering creative learning programme Aurora Classroom goes from strength to strength. We wish John every success with his future work at the LSO.”
For further press information please contact:
Rebecca Driver Media Relations
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