Waterperry Opera Festival Appoints John Savournin as CEO and Artistic Director
He will take the position beginning 1 September 2025.
The Board of Trustees at Waterperry Opera Festival have announced that John Savournin has been appointed as CEO and Artistic Director with effect from 1 September 2025.
Chair of the Board, Judith Tew, says, “John brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and energy to Waterperry to lead the next phase of our rapid growth as a festival and a developer of the next generation of talent in opera. He is passionate about our mission to introduce new audiences to opera and bring on new performers and creatives.”
John Savournin responded to his appointment saying, “I have always greatly admired Waterperry Opera Festival, and I look forward to working with co-founders Rebecca Meltzer and Bertie Baigent to build on its success. I'm excited to be a part of shaping Waterperry's future, from touring and collaboration, the expansion of outreach projects, to new, accessible commissions. Waterperry is a leading light for the future of opera and the vital development of new audiences, and I'm very much looking forward to getting started.”
John Savournin is currently CEO and Artistic Director of Charles Court Opera. He is also one of the opera world's most versatile creative talents, renowned as a bass-baritone with charisma and comic presence and as a celebrated stage director, working with most of the UK's national and festival opera companies, and internationally.
Judith Tew also paid tribute to outgoing CEO and Artistic Director, Guy Verrall-Withers, who will leave after this season's festival. “Guy leaves on a high, with our best-selling season ever, one with all the hallmarks of our founding mission impressed into it. A show to introduce children to musical entertainment, a new production of Handel's Semele that will transfer from Waterperry to Opera Holland Park in London (21 and 22 August), a dramatization of A World Turned Upside Down, in association with Anne Frank Fonds, composed by Juliana Hall, and Don Giovanni on our main stage in front of the 18th century house bringing a classic to new audiences. We will Miss Guy's drive and enthusiasm for the festival he started in a trio of founders only 8 years ago and wish him well.”
|
G4 Christmas 2026 - Beverley Minster Beverley Minster (11/14-11/14) |
|
KAMIJO at The Dome - London The Dome (9/24-9/24) |
|
AIRBAG at The Underworld - London The Underworld (10/24-10/24) |
|
CRO-MAGS at The Underworld - London The Underworld (8/07-8/07) |
|
Disney Princess: the Concert Waterfront Hall Auditorium (4/20-4/20) |
|
BAT! The Bat Out Of Hell 50th Anniversary Concert Sheffield City Hall Oval Hall (10/06-10/06) |
|
DRACONIAN at The Dome - London The Dome (3/07-3/07) |
|
Baga Chipz - Bagz to Riches - Didcot Cornerstone Arts Centre (10/16-10/16) |
|
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone™ In Concert (PG) Royal Albert Hall (9/25-9/27) |
|
Calendar Girls O2 City Hall Newcastle (8/15-8/15) |