Jo Thornton
My working life began in Birmingham clubs which led onto work leading artist liaison teams at Essential and Big Chill festival. Through looking for work at the BBC’s Love Parade, I crossed paths with Jim Mawdsley, one of the promoter’s involved. He told me about an assistant’s job at music development agency Generator, which I went on to get. Over the next 10+ years, I worked alongside Jim to help grow the organisation which was set up to support grassroots music.
My role changed over the years although the main focus was developing the team, partnerships, programme and events alongside securing the investment to help it happen.
In my current role as Head of Contemporary at Sage Gateshead, I work with colleagues on day-to-day programming alongside produced or commissioned work. We work closely with other teams including Artist Development and RNS & Classical and lead a Tyneside promoter network in conjunction with Generator. Outside of my day job, I work with festival promoters to explore new business development opportunities.