Country Images Magazine May 2015 - North Edition | Page 58

After a shaky period during which theatre bosses
thought it might not survive, Buxton Opera House
has risen, phoenix-like, to maintain its position as
one of the country’s most beautiful and inviting
entertainment complexes.
Many people might not realise the financial problems
that the Derbyshire masterpiece of Edwardian
architecture has undergone and the precarious position
it was in.
It began in April 2012 when the former finance manager
started taking money only days after being given a job at
the Opera House. He stole almost £250,000 from the
organisation to fund a lavish lifestyle. Paul Leighton was sent
to prison for two years for fraud.
Then Arts Council England removed the Opera House’s
annual grant of more than £45,000.
When other staff left last year, High Peak Theatre Trust
which runs the Opera House and the Pavilion Arts Centre
took the opportunity to appoint a new Chief Executive
at Buxton Opera House – a move which is already paying
dividends.
For 11 years Simon Glinn had been at the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic, the organisation that looks after Liverpool

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Simon
Philharmonic Hall and manages the professional symphony
orchestra.
Before that he had a wealth of experience in the
entertainment industry, his big break coming when he
was invited to stage-manage the jazz stage at the legendary
Glastonbury Festival in 1992. He also worked extensively in
Bosnia in the 1990s before returning to Liverpool, the city he
called home.
So why did he leave the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic? He
admits no other city would have attracted him – but he was
drawn to Buxton where he was “delighted to be joining one of
the country’s most beautiful theatres, a stunning example of
Frank Matcham’s work”.
Matcham, one of Britain’s finest architects, designed and
built the Opera House in 1903. By the outbreak of World
War I he had designed no fewer than 150 theatres and music
halls, including the London Palladium.
Simon added: “There’s so much potential to position the
venue at the heart of the UK theatre industry and I’m excited
to lead the team in Buxton, a town that prides itself on its
festival programme”.