The Curators oversee the ceremonial and governance functions, and monitor its use as a venue. They are the Vice-Chancellor, or a member of Congregation appointed to the chair by the Vice-Chancellor, the Proctors and Assessor, and three elected members of Congregation. All enquires to the Curators can be addressed by email to
curators@sheldon.ox.ac.uk
The Vice-Chancellor appointed Georgina as Chair of the Sheldonian Curators in September 2022, for a period of four years. Georgina is Associate Professor in German in the Faculty of Modern Languages and Fellow and Tutor in German at St Hilda’s College. She is currently in her second term as Vice-Principal of St Hilda’s, and from April 2021 to January 2022 served as Acting Principal of the College. She is a literary scholar with expertise in contemporary German literature, especially poetry (and has recently worked on classical reception in contemporary German and English poetry). Beyond her professional and publication profile, she has wide personal interests in the arts and in music. She is looking forward to working with the Curators and other Oxford colleagues to extend the appeal and reach of the Sheldonian Theatre: to Oxford audiences, to visitors to our city, and to those interested in using this wonderful historic building as an event venue.
Dr Pegram Harrison, Curator
Dr Pegram Harrison is a lecturer in Management at Brasenose College, as well as a Senior Fellow in Entrepreneurship at Saïd Business School. He conducts research on the leadership of heritage and cultural institutions, and teaches classes and leadership development programmes all over the world. He has degrees from Yale, Cambridge and London, and has been a part of the University of Oxford since 2008.
Professor Peter Davidson
Professor Peter Davidson was elected as a Curator in Michaelmas 2023 for four years. He has been in Oxford since 2015 as Senior Research Fellow at Campion Hall, where he is curator of the Hall's collection of Old Master paintings. Before coming to Oxford he was Regius Professor of English at the University of Aberdeen and Scholar-Keeper of that University's collections. He is a scholar of the inter-relations of the arts in the baroque period, with a focus on sixteenth and seventeenth century England, and on exiles from early-modern Britain. He is also a writer on place, season and nature. Beyond the academy, his personal interests are in music, fine art, sport, and gardening. He is already engaged with the renewal of the visitor exhibitions in the Sheldonian.
Dr Cayenna Ponchione
Dr Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey was co-opted as a Curator of the Sheldonian Theatre in 2002 by the former Chair, Andrew Fairweather-Tall, and is serving a two-year term. She is an orchestral conductor and academic based at St Catherine’s College where she is a Fellow by Special Election and Director of Performance. Her research is focused on the social-psychological and socio-political aspects of orchestral music-making – from the intricacies of co-performer communication in modern and historically informed contexts, to the politics of participation and orchestras’ geo-political significance. Her Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowship at the University of Sheffield (2021-2024) has focused on the Orchestras of Afghanistan. As a professional orchestral conductor, she is an advocate for advancing social justice and environmentalism within and through orchestral performance.
