WNO appoints new chair

Welsh National Opera (WNO) has announced the appointment of Professor Medwin Hughes CBE DL to the role of chair of its Board of Directors. Hughes will take up his new role in September, succeeding Yvette Vaughan Jones as her six-year term ends.

In his new position Hughes will build on a long-standing relationship with the Welsh opera company. Having joined the WNO Board in July 2022, he was appointed senior independent director in January 2024. He brings to his new role experience gained across a 23-year career in higher education which saw him hold the role of vice chancellor of both University of Wales Trinity St David and the University of Wales.

Hughes said: ‘It is a great privilege to be appointed WNO Chair at such an exciting and transformational time for the Company, and I’m grateful to my fellow trustees for their confidence in my leadership. I also wish to express my sincere gratitude to Yvette Vaughan Jones for her remarkable contribution during her tenure. We should take immense pride in WNO’s outstanding international reputation. This is a company that consistently excels and demonstrates the best of our nation’s rich artistic tradition. As we celebrate 80 years of service, I’m delighted to be working with our new general directors as they shape an inspiring future for the Company.’

Throughout his career Hughes (a fluent Welsh speaker) has also served as the deputy chair of the Welsh Language Board and on educational and cultural policy advisory committees with the Welsh Government and the Council of Europe. In his new role he will work closely with WNO co-general directors and CEOs Adele Thomas and Sarah Crabtree who joined WNO as in January 2025.

Outgoing chair, and the first woman in WNO history to hold the role of chair, Yvette Vaughan Jones said: ‘Medwin's wisdom, experience and vast networks of peers and friends will provide the best kind of leadership. I am also very pleased that the WNO Board members felt that the continuity of appointing an existing board member to provide that stability is what the Company needs at this moment in its history, under Sarah and Adele’s leadership.  We are both keen to work together on the handover to provide a seamless transition and I very much look forward to working with him on this.’