Senior Leadership Team

Sandra Willis is a multi-talented and widely respected Melbourne-born and raised arts executive, bringing 25 years of experience in the arts sector. With a career spanning theatrical production in stage, event, and project management as well as strategic leadership and management, Sandra has played a pivotal role in shaping some of Australia’s most noteworthy organisations, including Opera Queensland, Opera Australia, Arena Theatre Company, Oz Opera and Bell Shakespeare. Sandra’s vast experience and distinctive understanding of the sector, combined with her visionary thinking and leadership, will advance the evolution of the Centre and achieve great success. 

Alistaire has over 10 years of experience working in fundraising and roles for a variety of performing arts and not-for-profit organisations. Prior to joining Melbourne Recital Centre as Philanthropy Manager in 2018, he managed the major gift and bequest programs for Arts Centre Melbourne, and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. Alistaire holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Melbourne, specialising in piano and musicology. He is regularly engaged as a pre-concert speaker and program note author for a range of music organisations.

Latoyah Forsyth is a transformative leader with over 15 years of experience driving growth and innovation across the arts, culture, and creative industries. As Director of Engagement and Experience at Melbourne Recital Centre, she champions strategy, revenue optimisation, and data-driven insights while overseeing marketing, digital and eCommerce, ticketing, CRM, audience development, and visitor experience.

Latoyah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies and Creative Writing, a Master's degree in Communications and Media, and has completed leadership programs at Melbourne Business School and London Business School. She is Chair of the Emerging Writers' Festival and a Board Director at Music Victoria, reflecting her dedication to championing creativity and advocacy. Her accolades include the Betty Amsden Arts Leadership Award and Scholarship and The Social Impact Hub's Fellowship. Guided by the principle "humans not robots," Latoyah is committed to creating accessible, human-centered impact in the arts for all.

Marshall has been Director of Programming since July 2015. He has previously held positions as Music Director of Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camps, Executive Manager Artistic Planning at the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, and Music Programmer at Arts Centre Melbourne. While with Arts Centre Melbourne, he was involved in outstanding events such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra’s first visit to Australia, Once Upon a Time at the Famous Spiegeltent and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) Secret Symphony, as well as the award-winning 5*5*5 composition program. Prior to working with Arts Centre Melbourne, he was curator of the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australian Music Centre’s Art Music Awards for the Sydney Opera House, and curated festival programs for Sydney Festival, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival, Melbourne Festival Haydn for Everyone program, and was inaugural curator of the Utzon Music Series at Sydney Opera House.

In August 2021, Marshall was appointed Chair, Board of Directors of the Australian Music Centre. Marshall is acclaimed as a harpist in contemporary and Baroque repertoire having studied at the Victorian College of the Arts, at the Royal College of Music, London, and in Paris.

Jasja has over 30 years of experience in the presentation of live performance. He began his career in theatre, working on opera, ballet and dance, repertoire theatre and large commercial musicals. In the mid-to-late nineties, Jasja was involved with the start-up of a number of major venues in the Netherlands. It was during these years that he started to specialise in audio system design for live performance.

In 2003 he continued his career at the Barbican Centre in London, moving into technical management with a focus on the production of live music. Jasja had the fortune of working with the top of the international music scene, from large orchestral (LSO, BBCSO), modern classical (John Cage, Kronos) to all ranges of contemporary music (highlights included Solomon Burke, Ike Turner, Scott Walker and festival work co-produced with the BBC). As a freelancer, Jasja toured for two decades with several international bands and festivals across Europe and the US. In 2012 he moved to Melbourne, continuing his career at Melbourne Recital Centre.