Ruth Mackenzie has been director of the London 2012 Festival (the official cultural programme for the London 2012 Games), general director of Scottish Opera and the Manchester International Festival, artistic director of Chichester Festival Theatre, consultant dramaturg of the Wiener Festwochen, special adviser to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport and consultant to the Barbican Centre, the LSO, the BBC and the Tate, amongst others. She has been awarded the Peter Brook Empty Space Special Achievement Award and made a CBE by HM Queen Elizabeth II.