Nicholas Snowman

Michael Nicholas Snowman OBE (18 March 1944 – 2 March 2023) was a British arts administrator and the chairman of the jewellers Wartski. In 2000, The Telegraph called him "one of the most influential figures in British classical music for the past 30 years".

Early life

Nicholas Snowman was born on 18 March 1944, the son of Kenneth Snowman, and grandson of Emanuel Snowman, both jewellers and chairmen of Wartski. He is a distant cousin of the actress Claire Bloom.

Career Snowman was the co-founder of London Sinfonietta and its general manager from 1968 to 1972. In 1976, Snowman, the composer and conductor Pierre Boulez and French culture minister Michel Guy co-founded the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris.

Snowman was general director (Arts) at the Southbank Centre, London from 1986, becoming Chief Executive in 1992 until 1998.

On 28 October 1990, he appeared on Desert Island Discs, choosing Smiley's People by John le Carré as his favourite book and a coffee machine as his luxury item.

From 1998, he succeeded Anthony Whitworth-Jones as general manager of Glyndebourne Festival Opera. However, he left suddenly in 2000, because "he was resigning to spend more time with his family". A claim that he was sacked was denied by Snowman and by Gus Christie, executive chairman and son of Sir George Christie. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours "For services to promoting British cultural interests in France".

Personal life and death Snowman married French-born Margo Michelle Rouard in 1983, and together they had one son, Hector Snowman.

Snowman died after suffering a fall on 2 March 2023, at the age of 78.