Nicholas Broadhurst - Artistic Director

Born and brought up in Manchester, Nicholas studied Piano and French Horn at the Northern School of Music before going on to read Sociology at the LSE. After spending two years as a Staff Director at the National Theatre, he directed a number of plays in a variety of London theatres such the ICA, Gate and Lyric, two in the West End and two for the renowned new writing company Joint Stock.
In 1992 he set up Music Theatre London for whom he directed LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (which was televised by the BBC), DON GIOVANNI, LA CENERENTOLA, COSI FAN TUTTE, DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE and LA TRAVIATA (nominated for the 1995 Olivier Award). The enormous success of MTL's work led to a number of invitations to direct on the continent.

With the exception of a new opera at the Almeida Opera Festival, THE CRICKET RECOVERS by Richard Ayres, and two theatre productions, THE MISER and THE MAGISTRATE (both with Ian Richardson) at Chichester and The Savoy Theatre, London, Nicholas has spent most of the last seven years working on the continent. He has directed five productions for the Wiener Festwochen including LA BELLE HÉLÈNE and the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth's first major opera BÄHLAMMS FEST. A wide variety of work includes the world premiere of Günter Steinke’s TILL EULENSPIEGEL, LOHENGRIN, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and CENDRILLON for the Staatstheater Darmstadt, IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, GIULIO CESARE and THE RAKE’S PROGRESS for Theater Essen, LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN for Saarländisches Staatstheater Saarbücken, DER ROSENKAVALIER and FALSTAFF for Wuppertal Bühnen, DEIDAMIA at the Händel Festival, Halle, ILL VIAGGIO Á REIMS for Theater Bielefeld and most recently the German premiere of Michaël Levinas’ LES NÈGRES for Theater Freiburg. and most recently CATONE IN UTICE at the Mannheim Nationaltheater. In 2006 Nicholas took up the position of of Oberspielleiter at the Theater Bielefeld for whom he has directed ILL VIAGGIO Á REIMS, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and Enescu's OEDIPE.

Future engagements include PAUL BUNYAN at the Bregenzer Festspiele, two productions for London Contemporary Opera, a revival of THE CRICKET RECOVERS and a modern version of ORFEO and productions of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE and L’ARBORE DI DIANA for Theater Bielefeld.

 

Andrew Watts - Artistic Director

Andrew Watts studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Geoffrey Mitchell. Since leaving the RAM Andrew has established himself as one of the most versatile counter-tenors of his generation.
Andrew's operatic engagements have included appearances with Royal Opera Covent Garden, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Festival and Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Almeida Opera and the Edinburgh Festival. Foreign engagements have included appearances with Staatsoper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Teatro La Fenice, De Vlaamse Opera Antwerp and Ghent, Graz Opera, Opera National du Rhin and the Brooklyn Academy in New York in repertoire from Handel to Harrison Birtwistle and from Monteverdi to Henze.

Concert engagements include BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Endymion, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Gabrielli Consort, Hanover Band, StaatsKapelle Berlin and Cleveland Orchestra and the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Future engagements include Ligeti's Le Grande Macabre for Graz Opera, The Original Chinese Cunjuror for the Almeida Opera, Henze's L'Upupa at the Hamburg State Opera,Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland in Munich, Lost Highway for English National Opera, Birtwistle's Minotaur for the Royal Opera Covent Garden and the world premiere of Liza Lim’s Navigator in Australia and concert appearances in London, Los Angeles, Paris, Vienna Amsterdam and Finland.

 

Roy Luxford - Executive Producer

Roy is a freelance producer for theatre, opera and dance. He has produced and managed for Cheek by Jowl, Michael Clark Company, Sadler's Wells Theatre, DV8 Physical Theatre, Stomp!, Cardboard Citizens, and AandBC Productions.

 

The Board of Directors

Miranda Jackson, Chair
Gill Graham
William Relton
Linda Roberts

Registered as London Contemporary Opera in England and Wales
Registered Address - 40 Arnold Road, Bow, London E3 4NU
A company limited by guarantee
Company Number - 4248524
Charity Number - 1117223

 

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