Biz news: Conductors’ aide steps down after 50 years

It has been announced that Rona Eastwood is retiring after half a century at the AskonasHolt agency.

Rona started out as a secretary at BBC Radio 3, moving on to the English Bach Festival before joining Harold Holt. She became assistant to Sir Ian Hunter, helping to organise festivals. Alongside Martin Campbell-White, she built a conducting roster which included Sir Simon Rattle, Harry Bicket and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who said: ‘I will forever be grateful to have had the incredible fortune of having Rona on my path as a musician and as a human being…she was more than helpful guiding me through the beginnings of my guest-conducting career and international career. Always understanding me as a musician, always prioritising the music but always putting the human development first. I’m so thankful to her and so full of admiration for all the careers she has helped and her true sensitivity to artists and to the very delicate balance that a conductor needs to have in order to flourish. The guidance on repertoire, on the right places at the right time, the right steps…she deserves to be celebrated by the entire world.’