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
This is very sad.
It’s a rare man who can juggle arias and tiaras but he managed to do both with Wartski the family owned jewellers and his lifelong work as an art administrator of note. A bit condescending until you got to know him and at least under his regime the SB welcomed classical music.
Very sad news and a deeply personal loss.
Very sad news, for he was a lovely man. I was only talking about him this afternoon, having no idea he’d died.
Very sad. I met him tangentially on a couple of occasions. A charming man who will be greatly missed.
A very good friend for many years. I have many happy memories of Nicholas from his Glyndebourne and South Bank days. A charming and highly intelligent friend. Condolences to his devoted wife. Very sad.
He was dynamic, ruthless and also kind. In his years as co-founder and manager of the London Sinfonietta then the Ensemble Intercontemporain, contemporary music shifted from being minority interest towards mainstream. He was energetic, always on the case.
I knew him for more than fifty years including in Strasbourg and am shocked at his death. Thank you Nicholas for what you did for music