Scott Barnes
Director and writer Scott Barnes passed away on August 23 at age 68. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Barnes enjoyed a career as a performer and director that spanned theater, film, opera, cabaret, and recordings. He was a frequent contributor to Opera News and a familiar face on the panels of several opera competitions, including the Gerda Lissner Foundation (where he was also a board member), the Puccini Foundation, and the Giulio Gari Foundation. Barnes was also a founding member of the board of directors of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. His husband, Brian Kellow, predeceased him in 2018.
Peter Brook
Legendary theater, film, and opera director Peter Brook died on July 2 at age 97. Born in Chiswick, England, Brook made early forays into directing at the Royal Opera House in London, where his work included a contemporary restaging of Puccini’s La bohème and a production of Strauss’ Salome with sets by Salvador Dalí. In 1953, he accepted an invitation to direct Faust at the Metropolitan Opera and returned to the company in 1957 to direct Eugene Onegin. Brook’s productions of Peter Weiss’ Marat/Sade in 1965 and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1971 won him Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Play. For La Tragédie de Carmen, his 90-minute retelling of Bizet’s Carmen, Brook won both a Special Tony Award for its 1983 production at Lincoln Center and an Emmy Award for its film adaptation the same year.
Stephen Brown
Stephen Brown, the former company manager of the Metropolitan Opera, passed away on July 5. Born in London, Brown was a graduate of the Royal College of Music and London Opera Center and first worked as a stage manager and company manager for the Royal National Theater. He joined the Metropolitan Opera as a stage manager in 1979 and served as the Met’s company manager from 1997 until his retirement in 2017. Brown recently hosted a series of lectures for the Wagner Society. Notably, Brown was the stage manager for Otto Schenk’s iconic production of the Ring cycle at the Met.
Kenward Elmslie
Poet and librettist Kenward Elmslie died on June 29 at age 93. Elmslie wrote the librettos for two operas by Jack Beeson, The Sweet Bye and Bye and Lizzie Borden, as well as Ned Rorem’s Miss Julie. He also produced more than a dozen poetry collections over several decades, and in 2000, he published his memoir, Blast from the Past: Stories, Poems, Song Lyrics, and Remembrances.