Fresh chaos as short-order chief quits the Barbican Centre

Fresh chaos as short-order chief quits the Barbican Centre

News

norman lebrecht

August 09, 2023

You may recall the precipitate and untransparent departure of Nicholas Kenyon as head of London’s Barbican Centre in June 2021.

Kenyon was succeeded hastily as artistic director by Will Gompertz, the BBC’s arts editor whose music experience was minimal, and as CEO by Claire Spencer, who had been running the Arts Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

Now, after just two years, Gompertz has quit – to become director of the Sir John Soane’s Museum in central London.

Gompertz, 57, was never an easy fit at the Barbican. The reasons for his departure are, as usual down there, opaque.

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