Jonathan Harper

Chief Executive Officer @Paraorchestra

City Of Bristol, GB

Based in Bristol, UK, Paraorchestra is an organisation and charity uniting disabled and non-disabled musicians to push the limits of what music can be. We collaborate across artforms and support artists and composers to explore their craft, aiming for a level of excellence and creativity that matches the boldness of our performances. Paraorchestra has been on a rocket ship of growth in the last five years and now has multiple strands of programming. This includes Modulate, our Artist Development programme that focusses on developing the careers of disabled musicians and composers, building confidence, and fostering collaboration. Our artists aren’t just musicians—they’re fearless creators.I have worked for Paraorchestra since the charity was setup in 2015, and have led the team since the beginning. From being a start-up with 2 members of staff and a tiny amount of seed funding, we now have a team of over 20 people and multiple income streams including commercial revenue, public funding and private funding. We create a range of stunning performance and artist development projects each year. Paraorchestra performs at UK venues including Bristol Beacon and Southbank Centre and increasingly is developing an international presence for its unique artistic presentations.

University of Bristol

BA, Economic and Social History