Kristy Ellis Named Permanent CEO of QMusic After Nationwide Search
Kristy Ellis has been appointed permanent CEO of QMusic, the Queensland-based music industry body that runs the BIGSOUND summit and the Queensland Music Awards. The decision follows a nationwide recruitment process and was confirmed by Billboard on 24 August 2026.
Ellis has held the role on an interim basis since April 2024, when her predecessor Kris Stewart stepped down after five years as CEO. Her permanent tenure formally begins after a search conducted by u&u Recruitment Partners, an independent third-party firm brought in by the QMusic board. The board's chair, Jake Challenor, publicly thanked both Erica Brush and the recruitment firm for their work on the process, and voiced the board's confidence in Ellis's leadership.
QMusic is the peak body for Queensland's contemporary music sector. Under its CEO's purview sit two of the state's most visible industry platforms: BIGSOUND, an annual summit and showcase event that draws artists, labels and delegates from across Australia and abroad, and the Queensland Music Awards, which recognise achievement across genres and career stages.
Ellis brings more than two decades of experience across creative industries, sports, major events and commercial management. Her previous roles span the AFC Women's Asian Cup, Queensland Rugby Union — where she worked with the Queensland Reds — and TEDxBrisbane. She has also served as a board member for Ballet Theatre Queensland. That mix of live events, commercial management and arts governance frames the skill set she now brings to a music-industry organisation.
Her appointment also lands against a particular local backdrop. Brisbane is the host city for the 2032 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, an event already reshaping long-term planning across Queensland's cultural and events sectors. How QMusic positions the state's music industry in the lead-up to those Games is a question that will sit with the organisation over the coming years — though no specific Olympic-linked programme has been announced.
For the music community, the most immediate effect is continuity. Ellis has already been steering QMusic for over two years in the interim role, meaning the transition to permanent CEO formalises existing leadership rather than introducing a new one. BIGSOUND and the Queensland Music Awards — the two events most visible to artists and audiences — will continue under the same hands.
Stewart's departure in April 2024 closed a five-year chapter for the organisation; Ellis's confirmation opens the next one. The search that connected the two was national, third-party-run, and, as of this week, complete.
