Michael Volpe OBE - Executive Director

Growing up as an Italian boy in London, Michael Volpe listened to everything from Mario Lanza to prog Rock.  Despite having very little money, his mum brought him and his brothers up with plenty of Italian food, packed social gatherings, alongside the expected Italian family dramas, much to the shock of his girlfriends. As a teenager he excelled in music and the performing arts, but turned down an opportunity to audition at RADA, feeling that it wasn’t the path for him.  Going on to take a role at what was then Holland Park Theatre to promote and market the festival of visiting productions, he brought audience numbers up from 15,000 to 25,000 in his first year.  He realised that opera was the heart of the work at Holland Park, and the way to create work of real value and impact would be to develop a new festival with an entity of its own. As General Manager of Opera Holland Park, alongside the Producer James Clutton – now Director of Opera & CEO -  the pair formed a formidable long-running partnership until Michael recently retired from OHP, joining Iford Arts as Interim Executive Director, where he’s inspiring the future of the festival. Michael has just been awarded an OBE for his services to opera, and his journey is beautifully captivated in his book ‘Noisy at the wrong times’ one of The Sunday Times' 100 biographies to love. Read more about Iford Arts here Order Michael’s book here Read Michael’s blog here