Elaine Marguirite Padmore (born 1947) is a British opera administrator, broadcaster, and author. From 2000 until her retirement in 2011, she was Director of Opera at London's
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...
. She was awarded an
OBE in the 2012
Birthday Honours List
The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are presen ...
Life and career
Born in
Haworth
Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages inc ...
, Yorkshire, Padmore spent her childhood in
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-ea ...
where she attended
Newland School for Girls
Newland School For Girls is a secondary school for girls aged 11– 16, situated in the Newland area of Kingston upon Hull, England.
History
Newland School was founded in 1907 to meet the growing demand for girls' education. It opened on the ...
and her teenage years in
Blackpool where she attended
Arnold School
Arnold School was an independent school in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, established on the Fylde coast in 1896 during the Victorian expansion of public boarding schools in England.
The school was in the United Church Schools Trust group o ...
. She went on to the
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...
, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in music. Trained as a singer and also a skilled pianist, while still an undergraduate, she accompanied singers such as
Janet Baker
Dame Janet Abbott Baker (born 21 August 1933) is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.Blyth, Alan, "Baker, Dame Janet (Abbott)" in Sadie, Stanley, ed.; John Tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). ''New Grove Dictionary ...
and
Robert Tear
Robert Tear (pronounced to rhyme with "beer"), CBE (8 March 1939 – 29 March 2011) was a Welsh tenor singer, teacher and conductor. He first became known singing in the operas of Benjamin Britten in the mid-1960s. From the 1970s until his ...
when they sang at the
Barber Institute. After post-graduate study at the
Guildhall School of Music, she initially worked as a music book editor for
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
before joining the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. At the BBC she rose from being a general music producer for
to becoming its chief producer of opera.
. In 1993 she was appointed Artistic Director of the
, a post which she held until 2000 when she was named Director of Opera at the newly re-opened
in London. She retired in October 2011. The following year she was awarded an
"for services to music".
*"German Expressionist Opera, 1910-1935" (1969). ''Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association'', pp. 41–53
*''Wagner'' (1971). Faber and Faber (''Great Composers'' series for children)
*"Hindemith and Grünewald" (1972). ''Music Review'', Vol. 33, pp. 190–93