thumbnail image

KRIS STEWART

Artistic & Executive Director

  • Home
  • QMUSIC
  • BRISBANE POWERHOUSE
  • FESTIVALS & EVENTS
  • PRODUCING & DIRECTING
  • MEDIA
  • BIOGRAPHY & PHOTOS
  • FESTIVALS & MAJOR EVENTS

    Kris is arguably one of the most experienced festival and major event creators in the world, with events in numerous countries and regions.

     

    This has included founding new festivals in the USA and leading the development and presentation of new events in most states of Australia. As well as the events created at Brisbane Powerhouse and QMusic, there are a number of other key highlights in his career.

  • creative director - curiocity

  • In 2019, Kris was the inaugural Guest Director of Brisbane's new major event, Curiocity.

     

    The intersection of technology and creativity has long been a key factor in his artistic practice.

     

    Artshub: For Digital Natives, the Foyer is the point

    Innovation, Imagination, Invention

     

    Brisbane's new 2019 event merging tech, innovation, science & arts.

     

    Curiocity Brisbane is a citywide festival for explorers, inventors and creators. It will spark the imagination and inspire people to explore the city and engage with its creativity, rather than observe.

     

    'Curious' new event links art and science across Brisbane - BRISBANE TIMES

  • CEO & FESTIVAL DIRECTOR - FESTIVALS & MAJOR EVENTS

  • New York Musical Theatre Festival

    2004 - 2008

    As founder and Executive Director of the New York Musical Theatre Festival (www.nymf.org), Kris Stewart oversaw 1197 performances of 133 new musicals that he commissioned, developed and/or produced, as well as 349 other events, 20 venues each year running full-time, and more than 1000 artists, creators and staff working across the event.

     

    “Having a show in the New York Musical Theatre Festival is equivalent to getting an independent film into Sundance.” – Rob Kendt, Newsday

    The Sydney Fringe

    2010, 2011 & 2013

    As the inaugural Artistic Director of The Sydney Fringe, Kris programmed 3000 artists in 700+ performances of more than 250 shows and events in 53 inner city venues, events that were seen by over 100,000 attendees. 

     

    Commissioned by the City of Sydney to create the event, the first year of the Fringe included 76 theatre works, 59 music acts, 30 musicals, 25 visual arts exhibitions, 16 comedies, 13 digital arts pieces, 11 burlesque or circus and 8 dance productions.

    Wonderland

    2014 - 2019

    Wonderland is Brisbane’s end-of-year summer party, a carnival of surprise and delight that transforms Brisbane Powerhouse into a night-time playground as carny folk, circus and street performers, singers, comedians and cabaret stars fill a series on venues, both inside the building and out.

    Melt

    2015 - 2019

    Kris founded Melt in 2015 to be Brisbane's signature annual event celebrating LGBTIQ culture.

     

    Sitting alongside Mardi Gras (Sydney) and Midsumma (Melbourne), Melt featured artists across a range of disciplines, inlcuding theatre, dance, music, visual arts and film (the Brisbane Queer Film Festival).

    IRL

    2015

    The inaugural IRL Digital Festival was presented in May 2015 to more than 20,000 visitors, transforming this iconic building into a pop-up digital playground, where audiences of young and old were able to immerse themselves in interactive digital art, technology-based performance, retro gaming culture and the latest in virtual reality and transmedia content.

    The Festival of Voices

    2010 - 2012

    The Festival of Voices is Australia’s premier festival celebrating the vocalist and the power of song, showcasing a range of artistic disciplines, including choir and ensemble singing, spoken word, cabaret, debate, poetry, storytelling and hiphop.

     

    Kris was hired by Events Tasmania to run the festival in 2011, and oversaw a 54% increase in ticket sales, with 90% of performances playing to capacity.

    WTF

    2014 & 2016

    Running over 11 days in February, WTF is Brisbane Powerhouse’s iconic global contemporary performance event where culture and spectacle collide.

     

    Featuring works that challenge the traditional definitions of theatre, World Theatre Festival brings together a worldly ensemble of irreverent, iconoclastic performance artists and runs alongside the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) in 2016 and 2018. 

    APAM

    2014, 2016 & 2018

    The Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM) is Australia’s leading, internationally focused industry event for contemporary performing arts, and has been produced by Brisbane Powerhouse since 2014.

     

    APAM offers Australian and New Zealand performing artists and companies full performances, excerpt and pitch sessions, in front of national and international presenters, agents and influencers.

    Queensland Cabaret Festival

    2014 - 2016

    Produced by Brisbane Powerhouse, the Queensland Cabaret Festival is a multivenue event, happening across the major Brisbane venues and key regional centres.

     

    It partners with significant international festivals in the region to tour the best cabaret and music acts in the world

     

     

    Brisbane Comedy Festival

    2014 - 2019

    The biggest selling festival in Queensland, the Brisbane Comedy Festival is a big populist event across all of the powerhouse venues.

     

    Dozens of comics are featured across a calendar month, and it fits beautifully into Australia's autumn comedy season.

  • FESTIVALS media

    Print articles on some of Kris work on festivals

    New York Musical Theatre Festival

    • SMH: It's a Manhattan takeover, and everybody's singing.
    • LA Times: The Sundance of Musical Theatre. By Julia Klein
    • Theatremania.com: I wish to go to the Festival
    • American Theatre Magazine: The Rise of Festivals: The Networking Life
    • Stage Directions Magazine: Rebooting the Musical.
    • Downstage Center. The American Theatre Wing, in association with XM Satellite Radio, presents Downstage Center a weekly theatrical interview show, featuring the top artists working in theatre both on and Off-Broadway and around the country.

    The Sydney Fringe

    • SMH: Acting on the edge
    • The Australian: Return of the alternative
    • ArtsHub: Over 100,000 attend first Sydney Fringe
    • Stage Whispers: Kris Stewart - from new musicals to the Sydney Fringe

    Festival of Voices

    • The Weekly Review: Kris Stewart, Voice of Voices
    • AussieTheatre.com: Kris Stewart's top picks
  • Contact Kris

    This is direct to Kris' personal email, so shoot him a note!

    Submit

Copyright 2018. Thanks for coming by!

Cookie Use
We use cookies to ensure a smooth browsing experience. By continuing we assume you accept the use of cookies.
Learn More