By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – An internationally known leader in the opera world and prot g of British composer Benjamin Britton has died. Colin Graham died Friday morning in St. Louis.
"Seems as though Colin Graham is the man to call when you want to make a new opera." That's how Graham's biography starts in the online opera magazine US OperaWeb.
Born in Britain, Graham was prolific in the world of opera direction: He directed more than 50 world premieres during his career.
He's directed at the Met in New York and the English National Opera in London, but spent the past three decades with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He joined that company in the late 1970's when it was just a few years old and has overseen dozens of new productions here.
Graham had been sick for a while with respiratory and heart problems. He was 75.
At the time of his death, he was working on a world premiere of David Carlson's opera Anna Karenina. It's scheduled to open later this month in Miami.