This in from Quay Arts, in their own words, Ed
Quay Arts in Newport has appointed two key new staff in the last few weeks, Robert Miles as the Artistic Director and Peter Corney as Head Chef.
Bringing a wealth of artistic experience
Robert has extensive theatre and arts management experience. He began his career as a professional actor aged twelve at Windsor Theatre Royal. He went on to appear in the West End in Oliver! at the Albery Theatre and in Tom Stoppard’s Night And Day at the Phoenix Theatre alongside John Thaw and Maggie Smith. From 1998 Robert had an ongoing working relationship with Theatre Royal Stratford East, becoming Associate Producer and working with Channel 4 to produce a documentary about Stratford East’s Musical Theatre Workshop, Rappin’ At The Royal.
He then collaborated with Bill Kenwright Ltd on the historic transfer of the first Black British musical in to the West End – The Big Life. He went on to design and deliver The Big Life Project, a ground-breaking education and accessibility project based around the show.
For the past seven years Robert has been Artistic Director at The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre in Somerset, receiving national recognition for reinvigorating the programme, significantly increasing earned income and Arts Council investment. However in 2011 Somerset County Council became the first local authority to cut its arts funding by 100% leading to the closure of The Brewhouse in February this year.
Robert said,
“I am thrilled to be taking on the position of Artistic Director and look forward to working with the staff and Trustees. Using my experience creating and curating high quality cultural experiences and building new audiences I plan to establish Quay Arts as an artistic hub on the island, collaborating with the best local, and national artists. I aim to build beneficial relationships with the other cultural organisations, the education sector and businesses in the region and offer a strong interactive cultural programme for the Isle Of Wight that will appeal to both the regular patrons and newcomers alike. Together with Peter and the rest of the team we shall offer a tasty mix of delicious locally sourced food and drink, exciting events and high quality cultural experiences which will appeal to everybody’s taste.”
Food and music lover
Peter grew up in Ryde where he tried to learn cooking from his mum, who he says is “the worst cook of all time”. But this only spurred him on to cooking better food. He cooked Christmas dinner every year from the age of nine because he says, “I just didn’t trust that my mum could pull it off!’
After working for several years as the head of the kitchen at the Coast Café Bar in Newport he moved to The Hermitage Country, a five star restaurant in Whitwell where he was drawn into the exciting approach to food and the challenge to use ingredients that you rarely see anywhere else.
After the season ended, he moved to The Coast Bar & Dining Room in Cowes where he became Head Chef. Being a self-proclaimed food, music and art lover, there really is nowhere else he could have ended up but at Quay Arts – It was only a matter of time!
Peter said
“I love working for Quay Arts and feel I already have a great sense of belonging, having been welcomed with open arms as very much part of family. They’re all about great food, local produce and lovely atmosphere. All the staff seem to be just as excited as me with the quality of food that’s being produced in the kitchen. It’s my time to shine and I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
