One of the world’s most notable performers, Liz Kenny has performed with leading period-instrument ensembles for over a quarter of a century and is well known as a lute and theorbo soloist, a song accompanist and a fine scholar. Her own ensemble, Theatre of the Ayre, has a reputation for innovative programming and a highly distinctive, expressive and virtuosic performance style.
Liz is currently Director of Performance and Performance Studies at the University of Oxford, and before that was a Professor at the University of Southampton. Her connections with the Academy go back a long way. She is an alumna of Junior Academy and was a postgraduate student here after reading English at Cambridge. Since 1999, Liz has been professor of lute at the Academy.
As Dean of Students, Liz will oversee student support, learning resources (including the Academy’s collections and IT resources), recruitment and admissions, and our access and participation activities through Junior Academy and Open Academy.
Catherine Jury joined the Academy from the Imperial College Business School as Academic Secretary in 2007. She played a leading role in the overhaul of academic governance and the Academy’s successful application for Taught Degree Awarding Powers between 2008 and 2011.
As Academic Registrar since 2016, Catherine has overseen the administration of the student lifecycle, from recruitment and admissions through to graduation. In her new role Catherine will continue to develop the Academy’s student operations and will oversee quality assurance. She will be the lead contact with all external Higher Education agencies, including the Office for Students, the Quality Assurance Agency and Research England, and will manage the Academy’s responses to regulatory changes in the sector. As a keen advocate of a healthy life-work balance, Catherine will continue to develop her horticultural, sporting and symposium interests.
Academy Principal, Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, said: ‘I very much look forward to both Liz and Catherine assuming their new roles in the months to come. At the Academy we strive to do everything we can to make sure students’ experiences while studying here are the best they can be. Liz and Catherine have student welfare at the forefront of their minds, and I couldn’t think of two better people to take on these roles.’