John Berry (Musician and Arts Administrator)

John Edward Berry CBE (born 22 July 1961) is a British-born musician and arts administrator.

Berry graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music in 1983, and subsequently studied with Gervase de Peyer, supported by a scholarship to the Mannes College of Music in New York City. In 1984, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, and returned to the UK for successful treatment at The Christie Hospital in Manchester. He was unable to continue playing the clarinet professionally after his illness, and redirected his career to arts administration.

Berry served as the founding director of the Sounds Alive Music Centres from 1986 to 1993. He then founded the Brereton International Music Symposium, and served as its director from 1990–1997. Other work has included employment as an artist manager at Harrison Parrott (1992-1994), a consultant to the The Hallé Orchestra from 1998 to 2002, and as an advisor to several USA opera companies, such as Santa Fe Opera. He was an artistic and broadcasting Consultant (1998–2006) for several video productions of operas, including:

English National Opera

In 1995, Berry joined English National Opera (ENO) as Casting Director, and served in the post from 1995 to 2003. He instigated the first 'Jerwood Young Artists Programme', which later developed into 'The ENO Harewood Artists'. He became Director of Opera Programming in 2003, and subsequently was name ENO's artistic director in November 2005. The last appointment was controversial, as it occurred without either due process or interview.[1] As ENO's artistic director, he brought in artists from outside the opera world into ENO productions, including film directors (Anthony Minghella, Terry Gilliam, Penny Woolcock, Mike Leigh), theatre directors (Rupert Goold, Simon McBurney, Fiona Shaw and Improbable Theatre), visual artists (Matthew Barney, Anish Kapoor) and choreographers (Mark Morris, Michael Keegan Dolan). His co-producing policy extended ENO's reach to more than 40 opera houses around the world, the most prominent being the relationship with the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.[2][3]

Berry expressed skepticism about cinema relays of operas in May 2012.[4] In December 2013, in a reversal of those earlier statements, ENO announced a reversal of course and a new relationship with Altive Media to take ENO's productions into cinemas. Other developments at the company included, in 2014, a new relationship with restaurateur Ben Warner and Benugo for the redevelopment of the Coliseum foyer spaces, and a new commercial relationship with Lord Grade and Michael Linnit (the GradeLinnit Company) to produce semi-staged musicals. [5] The last actions were in response to the 29% reduction in Arts Council England (ACE) funding.[6][7]

Awards won during Berry's tenure include:

In February 2015, ACE placed ENO under special measures. This had followed public revelations of disputes between the outgoing chief executive of ENO, Martyn Rose, and Berry, with uncorroborated accusations by Rose that Berry had mismanaged finances and lost £10M, and the departure of Henriette Götz as executive director in January 2015.[6][8] ENO countered Rose's accusation by stating that during Berry's tenure, ENO "turned over an unrestricted surplus of £2.4M."[9] In July 2015, Berry stood down as ENO artistic director, with immediate effect.[10][11]

Berry is married to the mezzo-soprano Pippa Dames-Longworth. He was made a CBE in the Queens Birthday Honours in 2014, for Services to Music.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Charlotte Higgins (2006-03-10). "Is this the toughest job in music?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  2. ↑ Aspden, Peter (2010-02-13). "How the Met and ENO work in tandem". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  3. ↑ Mark Brown (2013-12-12). "English National Opera to broadcast productions live to cinema". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  4. ↑ Matt Trueman (2012-05-10). "English National Opera chief attacks live cinema broadcasts". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  5. ↑ David Lister (2014-04-28). "The London Coliseum: A revolution at the opera". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  6. 1 2 Mark Brown (2015-02-12). "English National Opera told to improve or face funding axe". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  7. ↑ "ENO is a showcase for talent and innovation". Financial Times. 2015-03-08. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2015-12-29.
  8. ↑ Anita Singh (2015-02-12). "English National Opera placed in 'special measures'". Telegraph. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  9. ↑ Mark Brown (2015-01-26). "English National Opera rejects outgoing chairman’s claim of losses". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  10. ↑ Imogen Tilden and Maev Kennedy (2015-07-10). "John Berry steps down from English National Opera". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  11. ↑ "John Berry was never going to be content just serving up repertory revivals". The Guardian. 2015-07-10. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  12. ↑ "Queen's birthday honours list 2014: GCB, DBE and CBE". The Guardian. 2014-06-13. Retrieved 2016-03-27.

External links

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