Borletti-Buitoni Trust Appoints New CEO

Experienced arts executive Toby Smith will succeed Susan Rivers in January 2024

The Borletti-Buitoni Trust helps outstanding young musicians develop and sustain international careers with awards that fund tailor-made projects. The organization has recently appointed Toby Smith as its new CEO. He succeeds Susan Rivers, who has retired after running the Trust since its inception twenty years ago.

A deeply experienced arts executive, Smith spent nine years as Director of Performance and Programming at the Royal Northern College of Music, and during that time he was also Festival Director at the Salisbury International Arts Festival.

Smith has also worked extensively with international artists, including at the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival and at Global Streets for FESTIVAL.ORG.

The co-founder of the Early Opera Company (alongside conductor Christian Curnyn), Smith holds a first-class degree in music from the University of York.

"So many of BBT’s artists speak very warmly of the bespoke ways in which the Trust has offered them space to reflect and to experiment at a crucial time in their development, and the Trust’s more recent championing of extraordinary organizations who are connecting with the most marginalized communities through music is a success story to be celebrated and shared," Smith said.

"Beyond exploring the rich counterpoint between these strands of the Trust’s work, I see BBT as perfectly positioned to nurture the leaders of a future where classical music’s remit and reach is broad, urgent, relevant and inclusive. I am so looking forward to building on everything that Susan has achieved over the last 20 years, working alongside Ilaria Borletti Buitoni, the brilliant BBT team and its growing family of talented artists and visionary organisations around the globe."