(Photo credit: Matthew Williams-Ellis)

Martin Graham, the founder of Longborough Festival Opera died from complications of dementia on April 21, at the age of 83.

Graham was born on Feb. 12, 1942, in North Yorkshire. He was a builder by trade. Graham received no formal musical training, but was driven by his passion for opera and the music of Wagner.

In 1991, Graham and his wife, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Prac,y began hosting opera on the grounds of their home under the name Banks Fee Opera. This endeavor evolved into the Longborough Festival Opera with an annual season taking place in an opera house seating 500. In 2013, the Longborough Festival Opera presented a full-length production of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” with minimal budgets but to great critical acclaim, establishing the Festival as a destination for Wagnerians in the UK and abroad. In 2019, the company embarked on a new Ring, culminating in another new full cycle in 2024.

He chaired the board of trustees for over twenty years, stepping down after his 80th birthday.

Graham is survived by his wife, their children Leo, Cordelia, and Polly, who is an opera director and the artistic director of Longborough Festival Opera, and three grandchildren.