Impact International: NextGen Honorees Aus/NZ

As much as the buoyancy of the live sector is bringing in new consumers, there are some exciting moves within the companies themselves as new blood rises up the ranks. Here are five of them: ambitious, global thinking, tech-savvy and passionate.

Ela Rutherford
Promoter/Tour Agent | Untitled Group
After gaining a Bachelor of Entertainment Management in 2018, Ela Rutherford interned a year later at Untitled Group’s Pitch Music & Arts festival.

Leading artist operations and logistics for Untitled Group’s festival and touring assets, she played a pivotal role in programming for Pitch Music & Arts.

Rutherford has contributed significantly to Untitled Group’s electronic touring division, working alongside Head of Electronic Monty McGaw. 2024 marks her second attendance at Amsterdam Dance Event to scout emerging acts and bring fresh talent to Australia.

Recently promoted to promoter/tour agent, Rutherford will now be taking on her own tours.

Louis Schlaghecke
Promoter | Frontier Touring
Starting out in Music Central at WME Sydney, Louis Schlaghecke caught the eye of Mushroom Group founder, the late Michael Gudinski, who hired him at Frontier Touring.

Described as having “amazing ears,” he made his mark helping to pull young breaking acts into the company. A promoter at Frontier’s Melbourne offices since 2022, Schlaghecke works closely with COO Susan Heymann and spent time at Frontier partner AEG Presents’ UK office.

Since 2023 he’s promoted the likes of Gracie Abrams, Benson Boone, Laufey, Wallows, Maisie Peters, Angie McMahon, Peach Pit, Tiny Habits, among bringing many others to AUS/NZ shores.

Steph Wong
Project Manager | TEG Live
After a start in artist representation and event management at Ron Baumann Promotions, Steph Wong came to prominence as manager and booker at major Sydney live music venue The Annandale.

As a crowd-funding initiative, she encouraged its clientele to “buy a brick.”

After stints as a campaign and account manager at marketing agencies, she ran her own experiential marketing agency Uncommon before joining TEG Live in 2022 as a marketing executive.

Promoted to project manager, she looks after major acts such as Porter Robinson, Melissa Etheridge and K-Pop’s aespa.

Brinley Stanovsek
Promoter | Handsome Tours
Brinley Stanovsek started out in New York City, packing and posting records as an intern at indie label Captured Tracks in Brooklyn.
From there she went on to work for Mom + Pop Music and Warner Music Group in NYC, before moving to Sydney to work in A&R and streaming partnerships at Warner Music Australia.

Joining boutique promoter Handsome Tours in 2019, Stanovsek rose from leading its marketing division to promoting her own tours for acts she considered “the world’s most exciting” including Chappell Roan, Black Country New Road, Waxahatchee, black midi, Alvvays, Kevin Morby, Petey, hemlocke springs, The Front Bottoms and Otoboke Beaver.

Desiree Venuto
Senior Booking Agent | Lonely Lands Agency
Inspired by advice by Wasserman Music’s Tom Windish – “Go after things that you love and work as hard as you can for them” – Desiree Venuto was promoting and running tours while at university, and joined multi-division UNIFIED Music Group.

She decided being an agent was more fulfilling, explaining that, “When you work
at an agency you get to be a part of the artist’s career and see their growth along the
way.”

In 2019, Lonely Lands Agency was founded by guitarist/songwriter Tash Sultana and her two managers, Lemon Tree Music’s Regan Lethbridge and UNIFIED founder Jaddan Comerford, with Harry Moore as GM and Venuto as assistant booking agent.

The artist-development company’s 64-strong roster includes global names Tones & I, Ash Grunwald, Ocean Alley, Pierce Brothers and Stand Atlantic. Venuto soon rose to senior booking agent, repping new gen names Budjerah, The Terrys, Jack Botts, The Grogans and Coterie. She was also listed in The Music Network’s 30 Under 30 awards in 2021.