What does your job entail as the chief operations officer?

Anything that is part of the operation, so it goes from the car park to the restaurant, and into the theatre. At the moment, the directors and designers are presenting their designs, booking the rehearsal rooms and organising next year’s menu with the catering company.

How are the sets presented?

In September the year before, designers present a white card model, which is a sketch of what they’re going to create. We give them lots of advice, but they often don’t listen to a word you say! Then they present a finished model that God couldn’t afford, and you sit down for a number of months talking it through, editing and reworking the piece until about the middle of December.

How do you choose a designer?

They are chosen by the senior management team who know what we want for example, Die Fledermaus,to look like. We have Gary McCann designing Fledermaus and you know when the curtain opens people will go, oh my god that’s beautiful.

Who are the other co-founders of the Grange? Do you feel some extra responsibility to the festival being a co-founder?

Me, Michael Chance the artistic director and Rachel Pearson, head of development. When it all fell apart, we put it back together again. Now we have the added responsibility of having started another opera company, so you better make that work!

Of the operas last season which was your favourite?

The Rake’s Progress. Anthony McDonald is a genius – he directed and designed the piece. Taking on that work, you’re challenged by the most famous production ever, Glyndebourne’s Rake’s Progress, designed by another genius – David Hockney. And to go in front of the world and say, ‘This is my effort’ takes an awful lot of courage. He really took on the challenge.

How many full-time people are there working for the Grange?

Out of season there’s a production coordinator, an artistic director, the director of artistic administration, the development director, the events organiser, the finance director, the chief executive officer, who oversees the marketing and ticketing – so fewer than 10 people. From the middle of April, we’ll go from seven or eight to about 350 people.

Do you stay locally during the festival?

A very generous family sponsor me staying in a huge barn for about three months a year, five minutes away.

What are the biggest challenges in your job?

It’s always financial; how to get the best picture on stage for the amount of money that you have, and realising an artist’s dream without the company becoming insolvent.

Do you sometimes deal with highly strung artistic temperaments?

There was a lot of bad behaviour in the ’80s and early ’90s, where it was almost a badge of honour as to how horrible you could be. But for the most part, it doesn’t exist anymore.

What would be a typical day at the Grange during the festival?

It starts with clearing up from the night before, and setting up the evening’s performance. At 2.30pm all the heads of departments, restaurants, the front of house manager, everybody meets and we talk through the night before. Then I run home and get into my black tie and come back for a 5pm start. First half, when the audience go in, I hover. Then the audience come out, they have their meal. Each day is meticulously planned to be exactly the same…

And during the winter?

Last Monday I jumped on the train to London, met at a designer studio with the director, the chief executive officer, the artistic director, and the production manager for a model presentation. After the meeting, because we were all together, we went to a café and continued intricately planning next summer. Then you switch on your laptop; I’m going to Hastings, Tyler is going to Hampshire and we’re pinging emails between each other. The out of season stuff is hectic planning the festival down to the last second.

How have the challenges in the opera world, cuts and Brexit, affected you?

The Brexit thing doesn’t affect me that much but it really affects the artists.

Did you grow up in an artistic household?

My dad very proudly worked for Guinness – brewing Guinness! One of the perks of the job was getting two large bottles every day. My parents loved to go to the local musical society, so I got to see lots of very bad productions of Oklahoma!, Sweet Charity and South Pacific.

What drew you to opera initially?

I was in engineering and took a year off, went to Sydney, and worked building boats. I saw an ad for a job with the Australian Opera Company, and applied. I had no connection with opera but I thought I could do the job. A designer had come up with a design which was steel cables, a steel structure and a glass stage and they didn’t know what to do. I made some suggestions and started the following week on Tristan and Isolde. I very quickly became a production manager and within six months of never being in the opera world, I was one of the head honchos in the Sydney Opera House. I was about 26, 27.

What have been the highlights of your career?

The productions themselves. I production managed a Strauss opera, The Egyptian Helena, in Leonard Ingrams’ back garden in ’93, ’94. David Fielding directed and designed it, and some years later, the Metropolitan Opera rang him asking to put it on…

And the lowlights?

When it doesn’t work, it’s so depressing.

Would you recommend your job to a friend?

Absolutely not. Basically, you are panicking for 90 per cent of your time…. ON

Interview by Louise Flind

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of Opera Now. Never miss an issue – subscribe today