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Revision as of 08:07, 21 December 2024 by Espresso Addict (talk | contribs) (Quotation; +ref)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Annilese Miskimmon (born 1974) is a Northern Irish-born opera director who has been the artistic director of English National Opera since 2020. She previously held equivalent posts at Ireland's Opera Theatre Company (2004–12), Danish National Opera (2012–17) and the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet (2017–20).
Early life and education
Annilese Miskimmon was born in 1974 in Bangor, County Down, near Belfast, to Irene and John Miskimmon. She was educated at Glenlola Collegiate School in Bangor. She said in a 2016 interview with Fiona Maddocks that opera was "central" to her imagination as a child, characterising the form as simply a "really dramatic story with big music". She sang in the chorus of amateur opera productions in her teens, and she cites her father, who sang in amateur productions with Opera NI and Castleward Opera, as an important influence. The first opera that she attended was an amateur performance of The Magic Flute in Belfast, at the age of ten. She said that opera, together with theatre, formed a "safe place for open-minded, creative people from both communities" during the Northern Ireland conflict.
Miskimmon read English at Christ's College, Cambridge (1992–95). There she was involved with the college's amateur dramatic society and the university's opera and Gilbert and Sullivan societies, starting to direct theatre and opera. She became president of the college JCR, where she led a campaign to protect first-year students from older ones. She then went to City University in London, where she studied arts management.
Career
She worked as a producer at Welsh National Opera, and then became artistic director at Ireland's Opera Theatre Company (2004–12), general manager and artistic director of the Danish National Opera (2012–17), and director of opera at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet (2017–20).
Miskimmon was appointed artistic director of the English National Opera (ENO) in October 2019, succeeding Daniel Kramer; at the time Gramophone described her as the only woman to lead an important opera company in Britain. She took up the post in May 2020 during coronavirus lockdown; during this period, she led innovative Drive and Live performances of Puccini's La Bohème in the car park of Alexandra Palace, London in September 2020, perhaps the first drive-in opera performance in Britain.
The choice of Poul Ruders' The Handmaid's Tale for her first conventional production at ENO in April 2022 is described by Nicholas Kenyon in the Telegraph as a "brave move... vindicated" by a "totally committed and communicative" performance that attracted a younger-than-usual audience. The production employed a simple staging that coupled austere sets with film denoting the character's memories, a contrast which Richard Fairman, in a review for the Financial Times, found effective while Kenyon describes the set as "dreary". In a September 2024 production of Puccini's Suor Angelica, Miskimmon moved the setting from Italy to Ireland's Magdalene Laundries.
She was elected an honorary fellow of Christ's College in 2024.
Personal life
Miskimmon is married. As of 2021, she lived in Surrey.
References
- ^ Fiona Maddocks (9 October 2016). Annilese Miskimmon: 'From an early age opera helped me escape the Troubles'. The Observer
- ^ Tina Campbell (4 April 2021). Annilese Miskimmon: National Opera leading lady 'proud' of NI roots. BBC News Northern Ireland (accessed 20 December 2024)
- ^ College News. Christ's College Magazine, pp. 28–29 (2024)
- P. H. S. (2 November 1994). No sex please. The Times (65101), p. 18
- ^ Lanre Bakare (8 October 2019). English National Opera names Annilese Miskimmon as new artistic director. The Guardian
- ^ Alex Marshall (8 October 2019). Beleaguered English National Opera Announces New Artistic Director. New York Times
- Sarah Kirkup (9 October 2019). Annilese Miskimmon is appointed ENO's new Artistic Director. Gramophone (accessed 21 December 2024)
- Claire Jackson (17 June 2020). Country Life, pp. 96–97
- ^ Nicholas Kenyon (11 April 2022). Resonant tale of terror, fear, and a hint of love. The Daily Telegraph, p. 25
- Richard Fairman (11 April 2022). The Handmaid's Tale – one of the most powerful operas of the century. Financial Times
- Nicholas Kenyon (30 September 2024). Haunting reimagining of Puccini by the ENO. The Daily Telegraph, p. 11