The Royal New Zealand Ballet today announced that Dame Kerry Prendergast DNZM, CNZM, will join the Board of the national ballet company and will take over as Chair in January 2020, replacing Steven Fyfe, who will retire from the Board in December 2019 after completing seven years as a Trustee and Chair since 2017.

Dame Kerry has enjoyed a distinguished career in local government and governance. She is a former Mayor of Wellington, Executive Chair of the New Zealand Festival and Vice-President of Local Government New Zealand. Currently Chair of the New Zealand Film Commission, she is also a Director of Oceania Healthcare and Deputy Chair of the New Zealand Conservation Authority, and a Trustee of the Wellington International Arts Foundation, the New Zealand Community Trust, the Wellington Free Ambulance and the Victoria Foundation.  She is also an Advisory Board member of the Phoenix Football Club. 

‘The Trustees are delighted that Dame Kerry is to be the new Chair of the RNZB Board’ says Steven Fyfe. ‘Kerry has made an outstanding contribution to both the arts and governance and brings those skills and a passion for ensuring the arts thrive in New Zealand to this new role. The RNZB has an exciting future with many opportunities to evaluate and progress, including our eagerly awaited return to our home at the St James Theatre in Wellington’.

Dame Kerry says: ‘I am excited to become a part of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. The RNZB makes an outstanding contribution to the cultural life of Aotearoa, reaching all parts of New Zealand and inspiring young people to dream of and work towards successful careers onstage and working behind the scenes. I look forward to working with the Board, Patricia Barker and Lester McGrath to forge an even brighter future for New Zealand’s national ballet company’.