BOARD DIRECTORS

Linfox executive Kathryn Fagg has been appointed as the new Chair of Melbourne Recital Centre's Board. Kathryn is currently the President – Corporate Development at Linfox where her focus is on lifting corporate performance through reviewing organisation structure, aligning functional areas around business requirements and driving continuous improvement processes across the operations in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.  Previously at Linfox, Kathryn was President - FMCG Asia Pacific..

Julie Kantor studied Arts and Criminology at Melbourne University. After working in the court system for eight years, she completed a Diploma in Film and Television. She has been actively involved in supporting a wide-range of community projects with a special interest in the arts and environment. She is Director of the Dara Foundation and the Annamila Foundation, which she established, and is a Director of the Elisabeth Murdoch Sculpture Park.

Richard Mills conducts all Australia's leading orchestras and is one of Australia's most frequently commissioned and performed composers, with many recordings to his credit.  He is currently Artistic Director of West Australian Opera and has beenTSO’s Director of the Australian Music Project. 

His numerous awards include Helpmann Awards for Best Opera and Best New Australian Work: Batavia, Tristan und Isolde at Brisbane Festival, and four awards for The Love of the Nightingale; the Sir Bernard Heinze Award, the Don Banks Fellowship and the Ian Potter Foundation Award for Established Composers. He was awarded an Order of Australia AM in 1999.

Harold Mitchell is Executive Chairman of Mitchell Communication Group Limited. In 1976 he started the company that is now the largest media agency in Australia.  Australia’s largest planner and buyer of media including internet advertising through emitch, and owner of Stadia Media, Australia’s largest sports ground advertising contractor.

Chairman CARE Australia, Chairman of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Chairman Art Exhibitions Australia, Chairman of ThoroughVision, Director of Tennis Australia, Director Television Sydney, Director Deakin Foundation, Director Melbourne Recital Centre. Former President of the Museums Board of Victoria; Former Chairman National Gallery Australia, former Board Member of Opera Australia Council, former President of the Melbourne International Festival of Arts and former President, Asthma Foundation (Victoria).

Mary is a Writer, an award winning Television Journalist / Presenter, a Director of several Arts Boards, a Consultant and the Founder of Rosebank Farm Artist's Retreat.

• She was a Victorian Government Minister for over 7 years in the senior portfolios of Education, Planning and the Arts.
• Prior to Parliament, Mary established a prominent career in television news, current affairs and the arts, was a Foreign Correspondent for both the ABC and Channel 10, produced documentaries and anchored live television broadcasts.
• Mary was best known for leading ABC TV News, the 7.30 Report and Four Corners.
• She won Australia's most prestigious award in journalism, a Gold Walkley, for her international Four Corners work.
• Mary also hosted the ABC's National Arts program, Sunday Afternoon.

Mary is the Managing Director of her own Arts, Government Relations, Media Consultancy Company and a Director of Orchestra Victoria, The Harold Mitchell Foundation, the Elisabeth Murdoch Sculpture Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Advanced Journalism at the University of Melbourne.

John Higgs has had a long time association with Bendigo Art Gallery. He is currently a Board member (1984-1999, 2000 to present) and currently the president (15 years). John is the Chair of Bendigo Art Gallery Foundation, former president - Friends of Bendigo Art Gallery and one time delegate to Public Galleries Association of Victoria.

John is also a founder and founding Chair of Girton Grammar School, Bendigo, a former member Council of Bendigo College of Education and also has had a long association with thoroughbred racing, including being a member of Bendigo Jockey Club, for the past 20 years and former president and currently treasurer of Bendigo Jockey Club.

John holds a Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Arts in Education and was appointed to the Board of Directors of Melbourne Recital Centre by the State Cabinet in September 2009

Tom Bonvino has 30 years experience in strategic consumer marketing and product development. Vice-President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce from 2001 - March 2009 and highly active in the Italian community, Tom has presented eight consecutive Bella Italia food and wine festivals in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, alongside other continuing projects and celebrations of Italian culture. He has also extensive experience in assisting European companies to position themselves in Asia-Pacific marketplaces. He is currently the CEO/Managing Director of Private Branded Beverages Limited, a company committed to producing quality beverages for the Australian market. Tom is a Fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Non-Executive Director of Genetic Technologies Limited, and working with a number of companies as a senior adviser.