Opera News stalwart, 59, dies of brain cancer
mainThe death of Brian Kellow, a cornerstone of Opera News for three decades, has been reported by the magazine.
Dismissed two years ago after an assault on the magazine by the Met’s Peter Gelb, Brian had been stirring up a storm of coverage for Florida Grand Opera as its public relations manager.
At Opera News he had been successively assistant editor, managing editor and executive editor.
He knew opera inside out.
The brief public spat between Gelb and Opera News over their critical coverage was in 2012, four years before Kellow and publisher Diane Silberstein were let go (the reason given at the time was “cost-cutting”). Is there any solid reason to believe Peter Gelb had anything to do with his dismissal? Any publication goes through periodic personnel turnover and changes of direction.
In any case, the magazine was not better after he left, and this is sad news.
My remembrance of Brian Kellow, a close friend for 35 years. https://www.wqxr.org/story/brian-kellow-obituary/