Andy Shearer has been Creative Director at Perth Theatre and Concert Hall since 2004 with responsibility for music and comedy programming - and a few other things besides, including commercial dance and children's shows and talk events.
Perth Concert Hall opened in 2005 and the venue has established its formidable reputation on the basis of an ambitious programme of traditional and roots music including Southern Fried festival, which launched in 2008, major multi-artist "songbook" productions, an extremely popular and constantly evolving programme of commercial shows and a very strong comedy strand. Perth Theatre and its Joan Knight Studio have become important parts of this lineup too, offering the option to present a much wider range of artists and shows at an appropriate scale.
Andy was previously programmer at The Lemon Tree in Aberdeen from its opening in 1992 until 1999, where he established the Rootin Aboot Festival and established the venue as one of the finest of its size in the UK. He returned to The Lemon Tree on a freelance basis from spring 2002 to spring 2007, spearheading a revival in the venue’s fortunes. He also worked for major commercial promoters MCD in Dublin, setting up the Acoustica and Celtic Flame festivals there.