Stefan Charles new head of culture at SRF
SRF’s executive team is once again complete: Stefan Charles, who has served as commercial director at the Kunstmuseum Basel since 2011, will become the new head of the Culture Department. The 49-year-old will succeed Nathalie Wappler on January 1, 2017; she has been appointed program director at Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR).
On January 1, 2017, the 49-year-old will succeed Nathalie Wappler, who was elected program director at Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk MDR (Werbewoche.ch reported). Charles has many years of management experience in the Swiss and international cultural scene. Born in Fribourg, he began his career in music production and as Creative Director at EMI Music's music publishing house in Berlin. He then served as Managing Director at the Zurich Raw Materials Warehouse, Department Head of Production and Lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts, and most recently as Commercial Director at the Kunstmuseum Basel. The strategic realignment of the museum and the occupation of the new building fell significantly under the aegis of Stefan Charles in Basel.
SRF's future Head of Culture holds a master's degree in cultural management from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. At the University of Zurich, where he has been a lecturer since 2014, he completed a CAS in corporate management. Charles also attended the Executive Program in Digital Marketing Strategy at Columbia Business School in New York. The internet platform kulturkritik.ch, launched by Stefan Charles, was awarded the Greulich Culture Prize in 2012. In his new role as Head of the Culture Department at SRF, the 49-year-old is responsible for, among other things, Radio SRF 2 Kultur, the fictional in-house productions, the documentary offering and the culture platform on the Internet. In addition, Stefan Charles will sit on the management board of 3sat.
SRF Director Ruedi Matter: "The merging of the radio and television editorial departments at the new cultural location in Basel is one of the most important projects of the future head of department. In Stefan Charles, we have found the ideal personality: He brings many years of management experience in the cultural scene; in all positions, he has succeeded in creating free space for artistic and creative work. The Culture department and SRF as a whole will benefit greatly from Stefan's experience in leading cultural institutions. I am very much looking forward to our future close cooperation in SRF's management and wish my new colleague all the best for this exciting task."
Stefan Charles: "The rapid pace of technological change is leading us into an uncertain media future. This is a great and exciting challenge, which I find very appealing, requires a high level of communication and can lead to new collaborations. SRF's Culture department is about to undergo a realignment at a new location in Basel. Here I will be able to contribute my experience in organizational development in particular. For me and my team, this will open up new opportunities and possibilities, which I am very much looking forward to."
