Queensland Performing Arts Centre Announces Leadership Transition 

Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) has begun the search for a successor to its longstanding and distinguished Chief Executive, John Kotzas AM, who will complete his appointment in December 2024. Mr Kotzas first joined QPAC as an Education Officer in 1989 and rose to the position of Chief Executive in December 2008. 

 

 

Chair of the Board of Trustees, Professor Peter Coaldrake AO, acknowledged John's extraordinary contribution not only to QPAC but also to the development of the performing arts in Queensland and Australia over his long career. “John is regarded, with good justification, as a commanding figure who has been at the forefront of the arts sector for a long period,” he added. 

 

 

 

“Through its outstanding successes—including audacious international partnerships, new local commissions, and a growing focus on First Nations peoples and culture—QPAC is now in an enviable position. Audience numbers have rebounded post-pandemic with recent annual attendance at more than 1.2 million patrons, including interstate and overseas guests. And the finalisation of the new 1500-seat theatre will make QPAC the largest performing arts venue in the Southern Hemisphere,” Coaldrake said. 

 

 

“It is a testament to John's leadership that many of the organisation's achievements have been accomplished over a period in which QPAC has had to deal with major disruptions: two major flooding events, in 2011 and 2022, and a global pandemic whose impact on QPAC's business and the entire arts ecosystem was fundamental and far-reaching. With the new theatre due for completion later next year and the Olympics on the horizon, QPAC has extraordinary opportunities ahead.”  

 

 

The Board of Trustees has initiated an international search for a new CEO and will be assisted in the search by Anthony Armstrong of Russell Reynolds. 

 

 

There will be a public opportunity hosted by QPAC in November next year to properly celebrate John's outstanding career and to express community gratitude for his contribution to QPAC's standing as one of the nation's most significant cultural venues. 
 

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