Abel, Karl Friedrich (1723–1787), composer and concert impresario, was born on 22 December 1723 in Cöthen, Saxony, one of six children. His father, Christian Ferdinand Abel (c.1683–1737), served as violinist for Johann Sebastian Bach, under whom Karl Friedrich may have studied at the ...
Article
Abel, Karl Friedrich (1723–1787), composer and concert impresario
Stephen M. Buhler
Image
Abel, Karl Friedrich (1723–1787)
Maker: Thomas Gainsborough
In
Article
Aprahamian, (Apraham) Felix Bartev (1914–2005), music critic and concert organizer
Alex May
Aprahamian, (Apraham) Felix Bartev (1914–2005), music critic and concert organizer, was born on 5 June 1914 at 16 Inderwick Road, Hornsey, London, the son of Avedis Aprahamian, formerly Hovhanessian (b. 1871), carpet dealer, and his wife, Araxie, née Garabedian. His parents were both Armenian immigrants from ...
Image
Aprahamian, (Abraham) Felix Barter (1914–2005)
Maker: Pete Wicker
In
Article
Ayrton, William (1777–1858), impresario and writer
John Warrack
Ayrton, William (1777–1858), impresario and writer, was born in London on 24 February 1777, one of the fourteen children of Edmund Ayrton (1734–1808), composer, and his wife, Ann (1739–1800), daughter of Benjamin Clay. He was unsuccessful in winning the Gresham professorship of music in 1801; however, in 1807 he was elected a fellow of the ...
Article
Beale, Thomas Willert (1828–1894), impresario and composer
Michael Musgrave
Beale, Thomas Willert (1828–1894), impresario and composer, was born in London, the eldest of the four children of Thomas Frederick Beale (1804–1863), of the music publishing firm of Cramer, Beale, and Addison of Regent Street, and his wife, Margaret, née Betts (1803–1866...
Article
Bisse, Thomas (1675–1731), Church of England clergyman and founder of the Three Choirs festival
William Marshall
Bisse, Thomas (1675–1731), Church of England clergyman and founder of the Three Choirs festival, was baptized on 6 April 1675 at Oldbury on the Hill, Gloucestershire, one of two sons of John Bisse (c.1638–1686), rector of that parish, and his wife, ...
Image
Britton, Thomas (1644–1714)
Maker: John Wollaston
In
Article
Britton, Thomas (1644–1714), concert promoter, book collector, and coal merchant
Douglas A. Reid
Britton, Thomas (1644–1714), concert promoter, book collector, and coal merchant, was born on 14 January 1644 at Rushden near Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire. He migrated to London where he apprenticed himself to a ‘small-coal’ (slack-coal, or charcoal) merchant near St John the Baptist's Street...
Article
Chisnall, (James) Arthur White (1925–2006), social worker and club and concert promoter
Jo Meek
Chisnall, (James) Arthur White (1925–2006), social worker and club and concert promoter, was born on 3 June 1925 at 33 Birkenhead Avenue, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, the son of Elizabeth Goater Chisnall, of no fixed occupation, then residing at 7 Cambridge Road, Kingston upon Thames...
Image
Christie, John (1882–1962)
Maker: George Rodger
Article
Christie, John (1882–1962), founder of Glyndebourne Opera
Nigel Wykes
revised
Christie, John (1882–1962), founder of Glyndebourne Opera, was born on 14 December 1882, at Eggesford, Devon, the only child of Augustus Langham Christie (1857–1930), a country squire, and his wife, Lady Rosamond Alicia Wallop (d. 1935), third daughter of the fifth earl of Portsmouth...
Image
Churchill, Arabella Spencer (1949–2007)
Maker: Ian Hargreaves
In
Article
Churchill, Arabella Spencer [Bella] (1949–2007), festival and charity founder
Michael Eavis
Churchill, Arabella Spencer [Bella] (1949–2007), festival and charity founder, was born on 30 October 1949 at 12 Catherine Place, Westminster, London, the only daughter of Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer Churchill (1911–1968), journalist and politician, and his second wife, June Hermione, née Osborne (1922–1980)...
Article
Cornelys [née Imer; married name Pompeati], (Anna Maria) Teresa [known as Madame Trenti, Mrs Smith] (1723?–1797), singer and impresario
Judith Milhous
Cornelys [née Imer; married name Pompeati], (Anna Maria) Teresa [known as Madame Trenti, Mrs Smith] (1723
Article
Cornysh [Cornysshe], William (d. 1523), composer and court impresario
Roger Bowers
Cornysh [Cornysshe], William (d. 1523), composer and court impresario, is of unknown parentage. It is likely that he was close kin, perhaps even a son, of William Cornysh [Cornysshe] (d. 1502), composer, also of unknown parentage. Nothing is known of the elder ...
Article
Daly, John (1937–2008), film and music producer and promoter
Andrew H. Spicer
Daly, John (1937–2008), film and music producer and promoter, was born on 16 July 1937 at Lambeth Hospital, London, one of five children of Thomas Daly, a dock labourer and manager of a boxing gym in Bermondsey, and his wife, Emily Louise, née...
Article
Ebsworth, Joseph (1788–1868), playwright and musician
J. W. Ebsworth
revised by Nilanjana Banerji
Ebsworth, Joseph (1788–1868), playwright and musician, the elder son of Joseph and Isabella Ebsworth, was born at Islington, London, on 10 October 1788, and was in early life apprenticed to a watch-jeweller named Cornwall. He was a talented watch-mender and was later chosen to reconstruct the watch of the prince regent. Having a rich baritone voice, he joined the operatic company at ...
Article
Edgecombe, John Arthur Alexander [Johnny] (1932–2010), jazz promoter and marijuana advocate
Val Wilmer
Edgecombe, John Arthur Alexander [Johnny] (1932–2010), jazz promoter and marijuana advocate, was born in St John's, Antigua, on 22 October 1932, the youngest of eight children of John Edgecombe, a seaman with his own two-masted schooner who transported gasoline from Trinidad, and his wife ...
Article
Emery, Lina Madeleine Lalandi- [née Lina Madeleine Yeleki Kaloyeropoulou; known as Lina Lalandi] (1920–2012), harpsichordist and founder and director of the English Bach Festival
John Bertaut
Emery, Lina Madeleine Lalandi- [née Lina Madeleine Yeleki Kaloyeropoulou; known as Lina Lalandi] (1920–2012), harpsichordist and founder and director of the English Bach Festival, was born on 13 July 1920 in Athens, Greece, the daughter of Nikolas Kaloyeropoulos, director of the Byzantine Museum, Athens...