Nicholas Snowman, former chief of South Bank Centre and Glyndebourne, passed away suddenly at 78 on March 2, 2023.

The Arts Council called upon Snowman to lead the South Bank concert halls in 1986, where he served for 12 years. He was also a co-founder of the London Sinfonietta—for which he served as general manager from 1968 to 1972— and the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris.

In 1998, Snowman was hired as general manager for the Glyndebourne Festival, but his tenure lasted only two years.

After Glyndebourne, Snowman was the director of Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg from 2003 to 2009.

BBC’s foreign correspondent, John Simpson, expressed his grief on Twitter. “Nicholas Snowman, who died today: an OBE in Britain, a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur in France. He was my closest friend for sixty years — cultured, witty, kind, utterly charming. We were supposed to be meeting for lunch tomorrow. It’s a shattering blow.”

The cause of his death has not been disclosed.