Sudden death of UK arts chief
RIPThe former South Bank Centre and Glyndebourne chief Nicholas Snowman died suddenly yesterday at the age of 78.
Co-founder of the London Sinfonietta ensemble, he went on to run Pierre Boulez’s vanity IRCAM project in Paris before being summoned by the Arts Council to take artistic control of the South Bank concert halls, which had been liberated from the Greater London council.
Snowman’s 12 years in charge were marred by bickering with resident orchestras and quizzical media. In 1998, he was hired as general manager of Glyndebourne Festival Opera, but departed after just two years.
From 2003 to 2009, he was director of Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, after which he returned to become chairman of the family jewellery business in London.
A convivial, sensitive man, he was never quite thick-skinned enough to endure the turbulence of the British arts scene. His greatest contentment was found in France.
The BBC’s foreign affairs correspondent John Simpson has tweeted:
Nicholas Snowman, who died today: an OBE in Britain, a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur in France. He was my closest friend for sixty years — cultured, witty, kind, utterly charming. We were supposed to be meeting for lunch tomorrow. It’s a shattering blow. pic.twitter.com/BoaKMgzsb5
— John Simpson (@JohnSimpsonNews) March 2, 2023
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