Elaine Marguirite Padmore (born 1947) is a British opera administrator, broadcaster, and author. From 2000 until her retirement in 2011, she was Director of Opera at London's

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

. She was awarded an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the 2012

Birthday Honours List The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are p ...

Life and career

Born in

Haworth Haworth ( , , ) is a village in West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines south-west of Keighley, 8 miles (13 km) north of Halifax, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhop ...

, Yorkshire, Padmore spent her childhood in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

where she attended

Newland School for Girls Newland School For Girls is a secondary school for girls aged 11– 16, situated in the Newland, Kingston upon Hull, Newland area of Kingston upon Hull, England. History Newland School was founded in 1907 to meet the growing demand for girls' ...

and her teenage years in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

where she attended Arnold High School for Girls. She went on to the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in music. Trained as a singer and also a skilled pianist, while still an undergraduate, she accompanied singers such as

Janet Baker Dame Janet Abbott Baker (born 21 August 1933) is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.Blyth, Alan, "Baker, Dame Janet (Abbott)" in Sadie, Stanley, ed.; John Tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). ''New Grove Dictionar ...

and

Robert Tear Robert Tear, CBE (8 March 1939 – 29 March 2011) was a Welsh tenor singer, teacher and conductor. He first became known singing in the operas of Benjamin Britten in the mid-1960s. From the 1970s until his retirement in 1999 his main operati ...

when they sang at the

Barber Institute The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England. It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of the University of Birmingham. The Grade I listed Art Deco building was designed by Robert A ...

. After post-graduate study at the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

, she initially worked as a music book editor for

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

before joining the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. At the BBC she rose from being a general music producer for Radio Three to becoming its chief producer of opera.Chanteau, Cara (7 September 2003)
"Elaine Padmore: The quiet woman makes her mark"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. Retrieved 8 November 2017. From 1982 to 1994, Padmore was the General Director of Ireland's

Wexford Festival Opera Wexford Festival Opera () is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November. Festival origins, growth and development Tom Walsh, 1951 to 1966 Tom Walsh, an avid o ...

and from 1991 to 1994 concurrently served as the Artistic Director of

Opera Ireland Irish National Opera is one of Ireland's largest arts organisations and presents opera in Dublin, on tour across Ireland and internationally. Irish National Opera was created from a merger of the Opera Theatre Company (OTC) and Wide Open Opera in ...

. In 1993 she was appointed Artistic Director of the

Royal Danish Opera The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...

, a post which she held until 2000 when she was named Director of Opera at the newly re-opened

in London. She retired in October 2011. The following year she was awarded an

"for services to music".

Publications

* "German Expressionist Opera, 1910-1935" (1969). ''Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association'', pp. 41–53 * ''Wagner'' (1971). Faber and Faber (''Great Composers'' series for children)Dean, Winton (March 1972)
"Great Composers: ''Wagner by Elaine Padmore''; ''Rossini'' by James Harding"
''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...

'', Vol. 113, No. 1549, pp. 269-270. Retrieved 9 November 2017 . * "Hindemith and Grünewald" (1972). ''Music Review'', Vol. 33, pp. 190–93

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Padmore, Elaine 1947 births Living people British opera managers British arts administrators Women arts administrators Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Haworth