McMaster, who will step down from his position after 15 years this September, confirmed yesterday he had been offered a place on the board of the Manchester International Festival (MIF), which makes its debut next June.
It is understood he was asked by Alex Poots, MIF director, to speak to the festival board about his experience of running an international festival earlier this year. Members were extremely impressed and asked him to join them.
The offer will make organisers at the EFI nervous about the impact McMaster could have on its English competitor.
In May, the Thundering Hooves report, commissioned jointly by Edinburgh’s festivals, warned that the Scottish event’s pre-eminence could be threatened by British arts festivals in cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle.
McMaster has widely been regarded as a successful and influential director of Edinburgh’s 60-year-old festival. Next year is expected to be a crucial one for the event, which racked up £1m in debt last year and was this year judged to be in a “precarious” position by a Scottish Arts Council (SAC) report.
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Magnus Linklater, a former chairman of SAC, said: “This is significant. It emphasises the fact that Edinburgh needs to look to its laurels. If Brian does go there we would really need to be sure that Edinburgh does its best to promote and improve its own festival.
“He has had a major influence on the Edinburgh festival so I have no doubt that he would have a significant impact in Manchester.”
MIF, which will be biennial and concentrate on new work, has attracted public funding of £4m a year, about £1m more than the Scottish event.
However, Ruth Mackenzie, the general director, said it did not pose a threat to Edinburgh.
“Manchester will be very different because it will only show newly commissioned premieres,” she added.
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“Edinburgh is a 60-year-old festival, we are minus one year old. There’s no competition. What I do think Edinburgh will find interesting is how much support Manchester council are giving the festival. That’s not just financial — it’s real passion.”