ABOUT BOURBY
The Game-Changer Bourby
I believe creativity can change the world.
It helps us imagine what does not yet exist, solve problems differently, connect people who might otherwise remain apart and create experiences that change how we see ourselves and each other.
My career has taken me from concert stages to boardrooms, from elite sport to entrepreneurship, and from building arts organisations to creating ambitious cultural ideas.
Through all of it, I have become convinced that creativity belongs everywhere — in our communities, our workplaces, our cities and in the way we imagine our future.
This is My Story
Rule-breaker, game-changer, creative director, strategist, musician and entrepreneur are all words that have been used to describe me. I’m probably happiest simply being someone who sees what could be possible — and then works out how to make it happen.
Music came first. I studied viola, performed professionally and became a founding member of the electric string quartet bond. But alongside music I was fascinated by business: why some brilliant ideas succeed, why others don’t, how people connect with an idea and what makes people want to be part of something.
That curiosity led me through accounting, engineering, consulting, business development, an MBA and eventually entrepreneurship. In 2011 I founded Perth Symphony Orchestra with an idea scribbled on a piece of paper: what if we changed everything about an orchestra except the music? It grew into one of Western Australia’s most recognised arts companies and taught me an enormous amount about audiences, leadership, culture, risk, resilience and the power of an ambitious idea.
Today my work is broader again. I work across arts and culture, business, government, major events and communities — developing creative visions, producing extraordinary experiences, advising organisations and helping people see possibilities they might otherwise miss.
I still believe we can change the world.
I just have a much better idea now of how to go about it.
My Passions
Creative Director
I love starting with a blank sheet of paper and asking: what could this be?
I create and shape experiences, events and cultural ideas designed to connect people and make them feel something. My work can begin with a place, a community, a piece of music, a major event or simply an extraordinary opportunity.
The scale can vary enormously. What matters to me is that the idea has a reason to exist, puts people at its heart and leaves something behind.
ARTS & CULTURE STRATEGIST
I believe arts and culture have a much bigger role to play in our society than we often give them.
They shape identity, belonging, places, economies and how communities see themselves. I work with organisations, government, businesses and individuals to think strategically about creativity and culture: where the opportunities are, who needs to be around the table and how an ambitious idea can become something achievable.
I am particularly interested in how creativity can help Western Australia tell its story to itself — and to the world.
PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN
My viola is called Brian. I’ve had him since I was 15.
Together we’ve performed around the world, from concert halls to London’s O2 Arena. I was a founding member of the platinum-selling electric string quartet bond and have played classical music, rock, pop and almost everything in between.
Music remains fundamental to who I am. Being a musician taught me to listen, collaborate, practise relentlessly, respond in the moment and understand that extraordinary things happen when individual talent serves something bigger than itself.
I still play. My life wouldn’t feel quite right if I didn’t.
ROWING
Rowing is my other great love.
I began rowing at Oxford University before switching to coxing when the blisters started interfering with my viola playing. It turned out to be a very good decision.
I won Henley Women’s Regatta in an Open VIII and, in 2002, became the first female cox in 106 years to cox Western Australia’s Men’s Open VIII in the King’s Cup, winning silver. Today I continue to compete at masters level and serve on the Board of Rowing WA. My crew, the Black Swans, comprises former world championship and olympic athletes. In October 2025 we travelled to Boston in the USA to compete in the world’s largest rowing regatta, winning the Grand Masters VIIIs. In 2026, we became National Champions representing Western Australia at the Australian Masters Rowing Championship.
Coxing has taught me some of my most valuable lessons about leadership: how to work under incredible duress, understand the people in your boat on every level, understanding communication and that not just when, but HOW matters — and never forget that you cannot move a boat by yourself.
SPEAKING
I love ideas, stories and rooms full of people.
I speak about creativity, leadership, entrepreneurship, culture, courage and what music and sport have taught me about getting the best from people.
I don’t believe speaking should simply leave an audience entertained. The best conversations change something — an assumption, an idea, a decision or sometimes simply someone’s confidence to act.
My aim is always to make people think differently about what they — and the organisations and communities they are part of — might be capable of.
Seeing people discover their ability to succeed at something in which they’re really gifted is incredibly rewarding. Through North Street Music I continue to run workshops, courses and one-on-one sessions to help talented people get where they want to go.
ADVISOR
Sometimes the most valuable thing I can bring is perspective.
I work with people and organisations facing an opportunity, an ambitious idea or a problem that needs a different way of thinking. I bring together creative thinking, commercial experience, networks and more than two decades of building projects, businesses and relationships.
I ask questions, challenge assumptions, connect dots and people, and help turn possibility into a pathway forward.
If I believe in the idea and know I can add value, I am usually very difficult to stop.
HOW DID I GET TO THIS POSITION?
My career has been anything but linear — and I consider that one of its greatest strengths.
I hold an MA in Music from Oxford University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Performance from the Royal College of Music in London and an MBA from the University of Western Australia.
I founded Perth Symphony Orchestra and led it from an idea into a major Western Australian arts organisation. I have worked as a professional musician, creative director, producer, CEO, business developer, strategist and advisor across the arts, business and education, and I continue to work across sectors wherever creativity can make a difference.
In 2022 I was named in Business News’ inaugural Power 500. I received a Business News 40under40 Award in 2014, was a finalist in the Telstra Business Women’s Awards in 2018 and 2019, and in 2019 was named Western Australian of the Year for Arts & Culture.
None of those experiences has given me a conventional career.
Fortunately, I’ve never particularly wanted one.
