Charlotte Ray joins The PRS Foundation

The PRS Foundation for New Music has appointed Charlotte Ray as its new manager.

Most recently, Charlotte has been events director at Spitalfields Festival, where she has helped build a wide variety of concerts - of both new and earlier music - into ground-breaking festivals in East London.

Charlotte has extensive experience in live music, particularly in developing partnerships and collaborations with like-minded organisations, and in areas of corporate sponsorship. Throughout her career she has always worked with musicians, especially in the field of new music.

The PRS Foundation for New Music is the UK's largest independent funder purely for new music, of any genre. Since it was set up by PRS in 2000, it has funded more than 1,000 projects to the tune of over £5m.

Charlotte, who joins the Foundation in January 2006, said:

'The PRS Foundation has become a gleaming beacon of support for new music. I'm thrilled to be joining this renowned team to fund and develop adventurous new projects which spark new music creation across the UK.'

Chairman of the PRS Foundation, John Sweeney, said:

'This is an increasingly challenging role at the forefront of new music creation in the UK. Charlotte's passion for new music will serve us well. The Board of Trustees and the Foundation team are looking forward to working with her from January.'

Charlotte replaces David Francis who joined the Contemporary Music Network in September.

Notes to editors

Charlotte Ray biography

Charlotte Ray has been events director with Spitalfields Festival since 1999, helping to build a wide variety of concerts - of both new and earlier music - into ground-breaking Festivals in east London for nearly 7 years. Prior to this, she spent two years as label manager with the independent record label Collins Classics, developing all recordings from initial stages to finished product. Charlotte originally studied Classics at Durham University followed by a season with Glyndebourne Touring Opera. She is currently a trustee of the Midi Music Company Events Limited.

In 2002, Charlotte volunteered at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, leading a team of front of house staff at the City of Manchester Stadium, with 70,000 spectators each day. She also took part in Trailwalker UK, walking 100km on the South Downs Way in just under 26 hours to raise over £3,000 for Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.