Aaron Wright
Artistic Director
Aaron Wright took up the role of Artistic Director of Fierce in April 2016. He is a curator and producer of Live Art and formerly worked as Programmes Manager at the Live Art Development Agency (London), following an initial traineeship funded by the DCMS Jerwood Creative Bursaries scheme in 2010. At LADA he co-curated international programmes of Live Art and spoke regularly on the subject. Aaron has also worked as a guest curator and consultant programmer for the National Theatre, The Arches and Cambridge Junction, as well as co-producing club night Knickerbocker at The Yard Theatre. Aaron also worked with performance artist The Famous Lauren Barri Holstein and is a member of the Steakhouse Live collective.
aaron@wearefierce.org
Pippa Frith
Executive Producer
Pippa is an award-winning Independent producer based in Birmingham. Primarily she produces theatre, but has also worked in live art, dance, music, spoken word and circus. She likes to work that sits on the boundaries, and challenges preconceptions about the world around us. She works with a wide range artists to develop and tour new work, including Francesca Millican-Slater, Stephanie Ridings, Benji Reid, Babakas, Mohammed Ali, Centric and more.
She is Co-Producer for well-loved regional work-in-progress platform PILOT Nights and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City University.
pippa@wearefierce.org
Catherine Groom
General Manager
Locally grown, Catherine joined the Fierce team in early 2017. Her varied experience includes producing arts festivals and running projects in communities across the region, at Fierce she does anything and everything that needs doing.
catherine@wearefierce.org
Former Fierce Team Members
Fierce was founded in 1997 and over the years we’ve had some brilliant team members come and go through our doors. Here’s a list of who worked on previous editions of the festival.
Fierce Festival 2019
Suriya Aisha – Fierce Lab Facilitator, Robb Cartin – Production Manager, Pippa Frith – Executive Producer, Catherine Groom – General Manager, Colleen Kleshie-Martin – Volunteer Coordinator, Harriet Maguire-Smith – Marketing & Ticketing Officer, Lucy Price – Artist Liaison, Becky Woodcock – Production Coordinator, Aaron Wright – Artistic Director. Documentors: Rachel Bunce & Manuel Vason. Design: An Endless Supply.
Fierce Festival 2017
Katy Baird – Volunteer Coordinator, Robb Cartin – Production Manager, Sara Crathorne – Production Coordinator, Inès Elsa Dalal – Marketing Assistant, Pippa Frith – Producer, Catherine Groom – General Manager, Toni Lewis – Artist Liaison, Shekayla Maragh – Marketing Officer, Aaron Wright – Artistic Director. Documentors: Rachel Bunce & Manuel Vason. Design: An Endless Supply.
Fierce Festival 2015
Bek Berger – Assistant Producer, Ria Jones – Volunteer Coordinator, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Toni Lewis – Producer & Communications Assistant, Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Joe Welden – Production Manager. Documentors: Meg Lavender & Kate Rowles.
Fierce Festival 2014
Kate Andrews – Marketing Coordinator, Sarah Hamilton-Baker – Volunteer Coordinator, Liz Howell – Projects Assistant, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Joe Welden – Production Coordinator. Documentors: James Allen & Kate Rowles.
Fierce Festival 2013
Annabel Clarke – Marketing, Alastair Flindall – Production Assistant, Liz Howell – Production Assistant, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Sadie Newman – Festival Coordinator, Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Anna Morris – Production Assistant, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Nicole Shuchardt – Associate Festival Producer. Documentors: Kate Rowles & Katja Ogrin.
Fierce Festival 2012
Laura Coult – Festival Coordinator, Matthew Higginbottom – Production Manager, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Nicola Lowery – Participation Coordinator, Amy Martin – Project Manager (Press Gang), Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Matthew Moore – Production Assistant, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Lisa Newman – Project Manager (Gifts of the Spirit). Documentors: Kate Rowles & Jaskirt Dhaliwal.
Fierce Festival 2011
Angie Bual – Associate Producer, Julie Kim – Graphic Design and Brand Development, Nicola Lowery – Production Assistant, Simon McColl – Production Manager (EXYST), Laura McDermott – Joint Artistic Director, Anna Morris – Communications Assistant, Harun Morrison – Joint Artistic Director, Jigisha Patel – Associate Producer, Gareth Sumnall – Production Manager, Gemma Thomas – Trainee Producer
Fierce Team Members 1997 – 2009
Mark Ball, Helga Henry, Andrew Tims, Sindy Campbell, Anna Cook, Pippa Frith, Kevin Isaacs, Chris Keenan, Simon MacColl, Deborah Kermode, Anne-Maire Pope, Hildergarde Derby, Simon Pickthorne.
Work Placements
Fierce understands the importance of work experience to young people with ambitions to work in the arts and aims to provide placement opportunities that will support and develop the next generation of arts professionals.
In fitting with the ethos and vision of Fierce, we aim for all placements to be non-exploitative and open to young people from a range of backgrounds.
Here are blog posts from previous young people who have been on placement with us: