Background
John Tooley was born on June 1, 1924, in Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom. He was a son of Hassaram Rijhumal and E. R. Tooley.
1969
Bow St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD, United Kingdom
British General Director of the Royal Opera House John Tooley in Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, on May 7, 1969. Photo by Evening Standard
1981
Bow St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9DD, United Kingdom
John Tooley, General Director of the Royal Opera House, and Margot Fonteyn cutting the Taglioni cake, at the party which traditionally takes place at the end of each season, on May 30, 1981, at the Royal Opera House.
Willington Rd, Repton, Derby DE65 6FH, United Kingdom
John Tooley studied at Repton School.
Magdalene St, Cambridge CB3 0AG, United Kingdom
John Tooley graduated from Magdalene College, Cambridge.
John Tooley
John Tooley
John Tooley
(A frank account of the inner workings of the Royal Opera ...)
A frank account of the inner workings of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, written by the man who was its General Director from 1980-88. The years under Tooley are generally viewed as a golden era; and a stark contrast to the unhappy times for management and staff which ensued.
https://www.amazon.com/House-Covent-Garden-John-Tooley/dp/057119415X
1999
John Tooley was born on June 1, 1924, in Rochester, Kent, England, United Kingdom. He was a son of Hassaram Rijhumal and E. R. Tooley.
John Tooley studied at Repton School. He graduated from Magdalene College, Cambridge.
John Tooley began his career in music administration as a secretary with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1952 to 1955. In 1955 he joined the staff of the Royal Opera House as an assistant to David Webster, then its general administrator, in 1960 being made assistant general administrator. Tooley succeeded Webster as a general administrator in 1970 and served in the post, later retitled general director, until retiring in 1988.
The Royal Ballet enjoyed golden years during Tooley’s tenure. MacMillan produced some of his greatest works, including Manon (1974) and Mayerling (1978). Ashton returned to stage the masterful A Month in the Country (1976) and the spectacular partnership of Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev was followed by that of Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. John Tooley also set in motion the search for a proper home for Sadler’s Wells Ballet. This was achieved after his retirement when the company moved to Birmingham.
Outstanding opera productions associated with Tooley included Elijah Moshinsky’s Peter Grimes, conducted by Davis and starring Jon Vickers as a particularly passionate Grimes, and Moshinsky’s Otello (conducted by Carlos Kleiber) and Piero Faggioni’s La fanciulla del West, both starring Domingo. A keen supporter of 20th-century repertory, Tooley oversaw The Royal Opera’s world premieres of Tippett’s The Knot Garden (1970) and The Ice Break (1977), Henze’s We Come to the River (1976) and the United Kingdom premiere of Donnerstag aus Licht (1985).
Since leaving the Royal Opera House he has served as a director of such institutions as the Britten Estate from 1989 to 1997, Welsh National Opera from 1992 to 2000, Almeida Theatre from 1997 to 2002, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1998 to 2010. He was a president of the Salisbury Festival from 1988 to 2005, a chairman of the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation from 1995 to 2008, and a general adviser to the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts from 1993 to 2008, in addition to other positions.
Tooley’s book is titled In House: Covent Gardens, Fifty Years of Opera and Ballet (1999). Although some critics noted and unfavorably commented upon his attempts to blame his successor, Isaacs, for the Royal Opera House’s woes, they often praised other aspects of the book at the same time.
(A frank account of the inner workings of the Royal Opera ...)
1999John Tooley supported Borusan Sanat. He worked towards the advancement of art throughout his life.
John Tooley was a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music.
Eleanor Fazan told The Herald, "John was a man of endless charm, patience, and deep concern for the arts throughout the United Kingdom. He was a real gentleman." It is said he knew everyone by name and greeted everyone with a casual informality. In his teens, he had played the oboe.
Quotes from others about the person
"Sir John Tooley was a true gentleman and loved the people he worked with. He gave so much of himself to the Royal Opera House during his time as General Director in the 1970s and 1980s. He will be greatly missed." - Alex Beard.
In 1951 John Tooley married Judith Craig Morris, with whom he had three children, Sarah, Fiona, and Rachel. In 1965 the couple divorced. In 1968 he married Patricia Janet Norah Bagshawe. They had a son, Benjamin. In 1990 the couple divorced. In 1995 John married Jennifer-Anne Shannon. In 2003 they divorced.