Arcola remembers Sir Graham Vick

We were sad to hear of the passing of Sir Graham Vick this week.

We would like to express our condolences to his loved ones and those others deeply affected by his loss.

We have long admired Vick’s desire to challenge stereotypes around opera, one which led to the creation of City of Birmingham Touring Opera in 1987, which has since merged into the revered Birmingham Opera Company. Vick’s tenure as their Artistic Director is of course only one of his many great contributions and achievements.

It is a privilege to have worked on Vick’s adaptation of Das Rheingold in 2019, and to be producing his adaptation of Die Walküre this year, as part of our Grimeborn opera festival. It’s a pleasure to be staging the second part of Wagner’s famous ring cycle, that he and Jonathan Dove created and premiered with the City of Birmingham Touring Opera in the 1990s.

We hope Vick’s radical work and legacy will continue to inspire the next generation of opera makers and goers for years to come. Be that in opera houses around the globe, or many unconventional venues like Vick was known for using himself, we will remember Vick’s great strides to make opera a space for everyone.

You can read more tributes to Sir Graham Vick here:

Image: Graham Vick © Hugo Glendinning / Birmingham Opera Company