Mr Hadley has over 25 years of experience in professional theatre, circus arts, and directing large-scale events. He was Cirque du Soleil's Senior Artistic Director for their North American shows including Mystère, La Nouba, "O", The Beatles' LOVE, Ka, Iris and Zumanity, and directed Cirque du Soleil’s appearances in events including the Grammy Awards, The Tonight Show, Live with Kelly and Michael, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Today Show.

The Baku 2015 Closing Ceremony will be the farewell show reuniting 6,000 athletes from the 50 national delegations for the very last time, as well as the families of the athletes, coaches, volunteers and sponsors and the general public. 

Mr Hadley said: "Creating the Closing Ceremony for Baku 2015 is both an honour and a challenge. My goal is to give the European Games the spectacular finale it deserves and to create a memorable show for the attendees and the viewers worldwide.”

Libby Hyland joins James Hadley as his creative partner, and will serve as the Creative Director of the Baku 2015 Closing Ceremony. Libby has led the creative side on multiple ceremonies including the Rio 2007 and Guadalajara 2011 Pan American Games. 

Leading production company, FiveCurrents, led by Mr Scott Givens, will produce the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Baku 2015 European Games.

Ms Catherine Ugwu, Baku 2015 Director of Ceremonies, said: "James and Libby complete the already strong artistic team we have put together in Baku. Their creative vision, combined with FiveCurrents’ production experience, will ensure a Closing Ceremony that is fitting to celebrate the end of the European Games.”

FiveCurrents produced the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games Ceremonies, and other credits include the Rio 2007 and Guadalajara 2011 Pan American Games Ceremonies, the 15th Anniversary of Cinco de Mayo and the Reveillon Copacabana New Year Celebration in Rio de Janeiro.

The Baku 2015 Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be held in the newly-built National Stadium in front of a capacity crowd of 68,000 people, and a worldwide television audience of millions.

Tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies have been available for purchase online since 20 March on www.baku2015.com/tickets, and from today can be bought in ticket outlets across Baku including Park Bulvar, 28 Mall, and Metro Park.

Baku 2015 is the first ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent which will take place from 12 – 28 June 2015.

There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.

Twelve of the sports will offer qualification opportunities for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Those sports include Archery, Athletics, Boxing, Cycling, Judo, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Volleyball and Wrestling.

Baku was awarded the Games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012. The Baku European Games Operations Committee (BEGOC) will organise and run the Games in cooperation with the EOC.