Anne Wood (opera administrator)

Anne Wood (2 August 1907 – 12 June 1998), was a British mezzo-soprano singer and opera administrator.

Early life

Anne Wood was born on 2 August 1907 at The Grange, Crawley, Sussex, the daughter of Percival Wood, JP for Sussex, and his wife, Eleanor.[1] She was educated at St Mary's School, Calne, and studied singing alongside Elena Gerhardt, George Parker, and Eve de Reussy.[1]

Career

In 1934, Wood joined the BBC Singers, at the same time as Peter Pears, who was to become her lifelong friend.[1][2] Wood was the other soloist in Pera's first commercial recording, Peter Warlock's Corpus Christi Carol in 1936.[2]

During the Second World War, she was employed by the Ministry of Economic Warfare to work on black propaganda, as she was a fluent in the German language. By night she drove an ambulance.[1] Wood also worked for the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, later ENSA; and was an ambulance driver during the evening.[1]

After the War, Wood returned to her career and was a "leading mezzo-soprano", and a "resourceful interpreter" of contemporary and modern music.[1] She sang in many premières, including in 1950, Benjamin Britten's Spring Symphony in Amsterdam.[1]

In 1948, Wood was one of the prime movers in the creation of the English Opera Group, and was its general manager until 1951, working alongside Britten, John Piper, and Eric Crozier.[1][2]

In 1949, together with the soprano Joan Cross, Wood formed the Opera Studio, the first school in the UK to train opera singers; and by 1952 it had become the London Opera School, and in 1959, the National School of Opera,[1][2] and later, London Opera Centre.

For many years, she and her long-term companion, Scottish mezzo-soprano Johanna Peters (1932–2000) ran Phoenix Opera, a touring company.[1][3][4]

Later life

Wood died on 12 June 1998 at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth, Westminster, London.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Blyth, Alan. "Wood, Anne (1907–1998)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Peter Pears (1999). The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears, 1936–1978. Boydell & Brewer. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-85115-741-2. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Johanna Peters". The Herald. Glasgow. 13 June 2000. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  4. ↑ Blyth, Alan (7 June 2000). "Johanna Peters". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2017.

{{UK-

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.