Death of a UK opera director
RIPThe family of Tom Hawkes has posted an announcement of his death this weekend.
Tom was Artistic Director of Phoenix Opera and Director of Productions for Handel Opera. He also directed five operas for Eglish National Opera at the London Coliseum.
Abroad, he worked at Belgian National Opera and Opera Theatre of St Louis.
He retired in 2017 at the age of 75.
(we regret two misspellings in an earlier version of this post)
I was directed by Tom in the 90s when he was leading Central Festival Opera. He worked us all hard and got us to deliver results beyond our initial expectations.
He created many memories that I – and many others – cherish decades on.
Thank you Tom
RIP. Tom Hawkes
He was very active in the nascent opera scene in Singapore, with many excellent productions with the Singapore Lyric Opera. His contributions to opera in Singapore, in tandem with the late SLO founder Leow Siak Fah and conductor Lim Yau, will never be forgotten.
Thank you Tom
This is sad news. I knew Tom over 40yrs ago, when I sang in the chorus of both The English Bach Festival and the World of G&S(Winter season in Cardiff, Pinafore and Trial by Jury!). His production style was clean and clear, with a sensitive response to the music. His rehearsals were organised and well thought out, so no time was wasted. I met him many times at both ROH and ENO when I was performing as a soloist, although he tended to avoid productions that were abstract or bizarrely conceptual. Thanks for some great memories and a fine introduction to the professional world Tom!
There is still one mis-spelling in this current edition. The last time I looked English, as in English National Opera has the letter n after the first upper case E
I had worked with Tom on two Handel Operas Three for The John Lewis Partnership.
Opera for All and Studio Opera Belfast.