William Michael Roger Bankes-Jones BEM (born 1963), known professionally as Bill Bankes-Jones, is a British opera director and artistic director and founder of Tête à Tête.[1] He is best known for his work in new opera, having directed over 100 world premieres during his career.[2]

He studied philosophy at the University of Saint Andrews before joining the ITV regional theatre young directors' scheme, working at the Thorndike Theatre and the Redgrave Theatre.[3]

He went on to become a staff director at English National Opera in 1991 before founding Tête à Tête in 1997.[3] He has continued as artistic director since then, leading the company's expansion and creation of Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival in 2006. He has since described his intention in creating the Festival as a showcase for new work in a period when there were very few new operas being done, to confront perceptions of opera as exclusive and to establish a fringe for opera.[4] It has become associated with the emergence of trends such as gig theatre, composer-performer collectives and gallery opera.[5]

In 2012, he was listed in the Evening Standard's 1000 Most Influential Londoners for his work on the Festival. The citation praised the Festival as "the place to experience the latest triumphs and occasional spectacular failures of the genre."[6]

He has also worked with the Royal Opera, the BBC, Scottish Opera,[7] and the Royal College of Music.[8] He was the Chair of the Opera and Music Theatre Forum 2002-2023.[3][9]

In 2017 he directed the world premiere of Belongings, for which he was also the librettist. It was the first opera to be performed on a Caledonian Sleeper Service.[10]

In 2020, he was involved in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport's pilot performance for the safe return of opera during the COVID-19 pandemic as Tête à Tête's Artistic Director,[11][12][13] and worked on ensuring that year's Festival went ahead safely.[14] He was awarded a British Empire Medal in that year's Queen's Birthday Honours for "services to Opera and Diversity."[15]

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". Tête à Tête - The Future of Opera. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  2. ↑ "Pagliacci biogs | Scottish Opera". www.scottishopera.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  3. 1 2 3 "Bankes-Jones, William Michael Roger, (born 23 Aug. 1963), Founder and Artistic Director, Tête à Tête, since 1998 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U258299. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  4. ↑ "Directing puppet opera - an interview with Bill Bankes-Jones". www.puppetcentre.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  5. ↑ ITI Zentrum Deutschland; Rebstock, Matthias, eds. (2020-12-31), "In Search of London's Independent Music Theatre Scenes", Freies Musiktheater in Europa / Independent Music Theatre in Europe, transcript-Verlag, pp. 111–146, doi:10.14361/9783839452264-005, ISBN 978-3-8394-5226-4, retrieved 2020-11-24
  6. ↑ "London's 1000 most influential people 2012: Music makers, Classical". Evening Standard. 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  7. ↑ "Bill Bankes-Jones, Stage director". www.operabase.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  8. ↑ "Performer: Bill Bankes-Jones". bachtrack.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  9. ↑ "About Us". Opera and Music Theatre Forum. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  10. ↑ "Opera premieres on sleeper train from Aberdeen to London". BBC News. 2017-07-25. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  11. ↑ "Doorstep recitals and bespoke gigs: how classical music is adapting to the new normal". the Guardian. 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  12. ↑ "Tête à Tête/DCMS pilot for indoor performances with a socially distanced audience is the first public performance of opera in a theatre since March". Tête à Tête. 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  13. ↑ "FMTW goes to the opera!". Freelancers make theatre work. 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  14. ↑ Higgs, Michael. ""The 'art in isolation' we've been seeing is mostly soul-destroying": An interview with Bill Bankes-Jones, director of Tête à Tête Opera Company". The Upcoming. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  15. ↑ "Birthday Honours List 2020: Cabinet Office". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
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