Joan Ingpen

Joan Ingpen (January 3 1916 – December 29 2007) was a well known classical music and opera talent manager and agent. Ingpen is credited with launching the career of the late opera singer, Luciano Pavarotti. cite news |first=Tariq|last=Panja|title= Joan Ingpen, 91; agent and manager gave Pavarotti start
url= http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/01/12/joan_ingpen_91_agent_and_manager_gave_pavarotti_start/ |work= Associated Press |publisher=Boston Globe |date=2008-01-12 |accessdate=2008-01-13] She also served as the former artistic administrator of the Royal Opera House in London.

Joan Mary Eileen Ingpen was born in London in 1916. She enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music and studied piano. However, she initially decided to pursue a career as an insurance agent. She became acquainted with the classical music industry by attending a large number of concerts. Through her concert contacts, she was offered a job with the Entertainments National Service Association, a United Kingdom World War II era agency that provided entertainment to British military servicemen.

Following the end of World War II, Ingpen established her own classical music talent management agency, Ingpen & Williams in 1946. The Ingpen & Williams agency was named for herself and her pet dachshund, Williams, whom she considered to be co-founders of the agency Her early clients during the 1950s included conductors Sir Georg Solti, Geraint Evans and Rudolf Kempe, as well as Joan Sutherland. She was keen to cast British singers, including David Ward, William McCue and William McAlpine.

Ingpen sold Ingpen & Williams in 1961 in order to become the artistic administrator of the Royal Opera House that same year. However, she remained actively involved in her former agency. In 1963, Ingpen heard in Dublin a young Italian tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, whose potential she recognised immediately. She booked him as substitute/stand-in singer for Giuseppe di Stefano in a revival of "La Bohème", offering him the role of Rodolfo for the final performance. Pavarotti took Covent Garden by storm and his performance earned him critical praise and helped to launch his career as an internationally renowned tenor. Nonetheless Pavarotti and Ingpen would have a stormy relationship.

Retirement

Ingpen retired from the industry in 1984 and returned to her home near Brighton, England. cite news |first=|last=|title= Joan Ingpen
url= http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries/Joan-Ingpen.3657404.jp|work= Associated Press |publisher=The Scotsman |date=2008-01-10 |accessdate=2008-01-20] However, she continued to work, this time with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as a vocal consultant, until her retirement from that institution in 1987. cite news |first=Tariq|last=Panja|title= Joan Ingpen, 91; agent and manager gave Pavarotti start
url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/09/AR2008010901273.html|work= Associated Press |publisher=Washington Post |date=2008-01-09 |accessdate=2008-01-20]

Death

Joan Ingpen died at her hometown of Hove, England, on December 29, 2007, after a short illness. She was 91 years old. She had been married twice and had no children. In Brighton, she lived with her partner, actor Sebastian Shaw, who predeceased her.

References

External links

* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/01/09/db0901.xml The Telegraph: Joan Ingpen obituary]
* [http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries/Joan-Ingpen.3657404.jp Scotsman: Joan Ingpen obituary]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/09/AR2008010901273.html Washington Post: Opera Manager Joan Ingpen Dies at 91]