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Gavin Plumley

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Gavin Plumley
Gavin Plumley in 2018
Gavin Plumley in 2018
Born (1981-03-02) 2 March 1981 (age 43)
Dundee, Scotland, UK
OccupationCultural Historian, Writer, Broadcaster, Lecturer
NationalityBritish
Alma materKeble College, Oxford
GenreNarrative Non-Fiction
SpouseAlastair Tighe (m. 2009)

Gavin Plumley (born 2 March 1981) is a British cultural historian, writer, lecturer and broadcaster.

Life

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Born in Dundee, Gavin Plumley was brought up in Wales,[1] before moving to London, and was educated at Keble College, Oxford.[2] He lives in the village of Pembridge in Herefordshire with his husband Alastair Tighe, Head Master of Wells Cathedral School,[3] and their dog Nimrod.[4][5]

Career

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Having graduated in 2002, he worked at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and as a theatrical agent. Plumley became a freelance writer and broadcaster in October 2011, specialising in the music and culture of Central Europe. He has written about Vienna in 1900, and appeared in the 2023 documentary Klimt and The Kiss.[6][7][8]

He has written for Country Life,[9] The Guardian,[10] The Independent on Sunday,[11] Literary Review,[12] The Hudson Review, GQ, Opera, Gramophone, Catholic Herald,[13] and BBC Music Magazine.[14] Plumley has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, including at The Proms, and on BBC Radio 4.[15]

Plumley has written for opera companies such as the Salzburg Festival, where he edited the English-language concert programmes from 2013 to 2021, the Vienna State Opera,[16] the Metropolitan Opera, New York,[17] the Lyric Opera of Chicago, La Monnaie, Brussels, Dutch National Opera, Opera North,[18] Scottish Opera, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera and the Royal Opera House,[19] and for orchestras and concert halls including Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the CBSO, the LSO and Wigmore Hall.[20]

As well as his work for The Arts Society, both at home and abroad, he has lectured at numerous art galleries, museums, opera houses and concert halls, including the National Theatre, the National Trust, National Gallery, the British Museum, the Neue Galerie, New York, the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Garsington, Glyndebourne, Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre.[21]

His first book, A Home for All Seasons, was published in 2022, and is an account of his move to an old house in Pembridge,[22] with musings about the history of the area and the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.[23][24] The book was launched at the Hay Festival and at Wigmore Hall.[25]

References

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  1. ^ Plumley, Gavin (2 June 2022). A Home for All Seasons. Atlantic Books. ISBN 978-1-83895-479-6.
  2. ^ "Alumni in Print". The Brick. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  3. ^ Hole, Mandy (31 July 2019). "Alastair Tighe, Head Master | Wells Cathedral School". Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  4. ^ "Author tells of love for Herefordshire village's characters and history". Hereford Times. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  5. ^ "Gavin Plumley (@gavinplumley) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  6. ^ "Klimt and The Kiss (Official Trailer)". YouTube. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  7. ^ Freeman, Laura (30 October 2023). "Gustav Klimt's The Kiss — the darkness behind the dazzle". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  8. ^ Exhibition on Screen: Klimt and The Kiss (2023) ⭐ 7.2 | Documentary, History. Retrieved 20 December 2024 – via m.imdb.com.
  9. ^ "Drovers' Routes - Country Life". Country Life. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Strauss's Rosenkavalier: a dance to the music of time | Opera | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  11. ^ "War & Peace: The epic that gave power to the people". The Independent. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  12. ^ "Gavin Plumley - Paws for Thought". Literary Review. 20 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  13. ^ Plumley, Gavin (30 June 2023). "Diary: by Gavin Plumley - Catholic Herald". Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  14. ^ "Gavin Plumley". The Independent. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Napoleon, Start the Week - BBC Radio 4". BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  16. ^ "Programme booklet »Roméo et Juliette« by Wiener Staatsoper GmbH - Issuu". issuu.com. 4 September 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  17. ^ "Dark Resonance". www.metopera.org. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  18. ^ McKechnie, Kara (4 November 2014). Opera North: Historical and Dramaturgical Perspectives on Opera Studies. Emerald Group Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78350-502-9.
  19. ^ Scholl, Tim; Bartlett, Rosamund; Plumley, Gavin; Craine, Debra (2022). Swan Lake, Ballet in Four Acts [...]. Royal Opera House.
  20. ^ "Gavin Plumley — Royal Opera House". www.roh.org.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  21. ^ "Events - Performance - Poetry in music: Heinrich Heine and German identity". British Museum. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  22. ^ "Gavin Plumley's Tudor house on the edge of England". inigo.com. Retrieved 27 January 2025.
  23. ^ Tinniswood, Adrian (1 December 2024). "Call the Dendrochronologist: A Home for All Seasons by Gavin Plumley". Literary Review. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  24. ^ Eden, Michael (25 June 2022). "Author tells of love for Herefordshire village's characters and history". Hereford Times. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  25. ^ "Gavin Plumley talks to Horatio Clare". Hay Festival. Retrieved 31 October 2023.