Toks Dada is a Classical Music Programmer, Curator & Producer, and Head of Classical Music at Southbank Centre since December 2020, and a Fellow of the International Society for the Performing Arts.
From 2015 to 2020, Toks worked on the classical music programme at Town Hall Symphony Hall, Birmingham, including as Classical Programme Manager. Committed to engaging new audiences with classical music, Toks was the Guest Curator for the 2022 edition of Wonderfeel – the Netherlands’ biggest outdoor classical music festival. Toks previously served as a Board Director at Welsh National Opera from 2017 to 2022, and an Advisor at PRS for Music Foundation from 2016 to 2020.
“Digital art does not have the same emotional power as live art. How can it? We’ve spent over 400 years investing in the art of live performance… in order for us to reach anywhere near the point where digital is as emotionally powerful as live, do we need to spend the next 400 years investing in the art of digital?”
From What is the Value of Digital Art?
In 2010 Toks founded the music commissioning and producing company Sinfonia Newydd in Wales, providing a platform for established and emerging professional composers. Toks continued to utilise his instinct for collaborative working whilst leading Symphony Hall’s Inside Out Festival 2017 and 2018 – a free festival of ‘unexpected sounds in unexpected spaces’. Toks has also been a Board Director of Sinfonia Cymru (where he contributed towards the development of Sinfonia Cymru Curate – Sinfonia Cymru’s Youth Board and creative hub of young musicians and arts entrepreneurs), Chair of REPCo (an enterprise initiative for students running their own arts projects based at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama), and a participant on the Association of British Orchestras’ Find Your Way programme for senior and emerging leaders.
“…When you’re thinking about innovating, or you’re thinking about changing your business model and you need new creative solutions to the problem that we find ourselves in, then of course you need the most creative people around the table that have the ability to think in a different way. And that does not necessarily mean that our traditional organisational hierarchies are the best way to unlock that creative thinking.”
From BBC Radio 3’s Music Matters with Tom Service
As an advocate for change, Toks has championed new approaches for the classical music industry including attracting new audiences and engaging young people. Most notably Toks has presented at the International Society for the Performing Arts Congress and the Association of British Orchestras Conference, and written articles for Classical Music Magazine and BBC Proms Guide.
Toks holds a Masters in Arts Management and Bachelor of Music degree from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and in July 2020 was appointed an Honorary Associate of the College.
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