Graham Vick receives Knighthood in New Year Honours

Congratulations to alumnus Graham Vick, our International Chair in Opera, who was knighted in the 2021 New Year Honours list.

Working in opera houses across the globe with leading conductors and singers, Graham has established a career as one of the world’s foremost opera directors since graduating from the Royal Manchester College of Music (now RNCM) in the 1970s.

In 1983 his production of Verdi’s Falstaff opened the newly refurbished Royal Opera House, and in 1987 he founded the Birmingham Opera Company (of which he remains Artistic Director), recognised as one of the most pioneering companies for the development of opera as a 21st century art form. Graham has also held the position of Director of Productions at Scottish Opera (1984 – 1987) and Glyndebourne (1994 – 2000). He became our International Chair in Opera in 2017.

The citation read: ‘He is considered by many to be one of the foremost opera directors of modern times. Director of Productions of Scottish Opera 1984-87 and Glyndebourne 1994-2000, he has been Artistic Director of Birmingham Opera Company since its foundation in 1987 where his pioneering work has brought world premieres of Ravi Shankar, Dove, Battistelli, Stockhausen’s Mittwoch aus Licht and radical productions of Votzek, Othello, Khovanskygate to the most unlikely places (a disused factory, an abandoned ice rink, a defunct rock venue), integrating local volunteers into the process of making and building bridges with the city’s socially diverse, multi ethnic population’

13 January 2021