Opera North general director to retire

Opera North has announced that Richard Mantle OBE DL will be retiring from the role of general director next year having held the role for almost three decades. The Leeds-based opera company has begun its search for Mantle’s successor.

Mantle joined Opera North in 1994, after previous roles with Edmonton Opera, Scottish Opera, and English National Opera. He was awarded an OBE for services to music in 2013 as well as honorary doctorates from the Universities of Leeds and of York.

Mantle said: ‘I anticipate that I will step down at the end of 2023; the exact date will be flexible depending on the appointment of a new General Director.’ He added, ‘Now is a good time for a younger person to lead the team at Opera North, who will bring fresh ideas and articulate a new strategy for the Company over the decade ahead.’

Under Mantle’s leadership Opera North has toured productions across the country, as well as presenting a varied programme at Howard Assembly Room, the company’s home in Leeds. Since overseeing the venue’s opening in 2009, Mantle has also led the company’s recent £18m redevelopment project, Music Works, adding rehearsal, education and front of house space.

The company also hosts education and community initiatives working with the local community as well as with refugees. It also works to promote sustainability in the arts, wining a Julie’s Bicycle Creative Green Award in 2019.

Paul Lee, chair of Opera North’s Board of Trustees, said: ‘[Mantle] leaves an organisation that is radically different to the one he joined in 1994 – one which is immeasurably stronger and more diverse in its activities and the people it serves.’ He added, ‘Richard would be the first to stress that the achievements of the Company are indeed company achievements, not attributable to a single individual; but it is his leadership that has shaped Opera North’s character’