Nicholas Snowman

Michael Nicholas Snowman OBE (born 18 March 1944) is a British arts administrator and the chairman of the jewellers Wartski. In 2000, The Telegraph called him "one of the most influential figures in British classical music for the past 30 years".

Nicholas Snowman is the son of Kenneth Snowman, and grandson of Emanuel Snowman, both jewellers and chairmen of Wartski. He was educated at Highgate School and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he founded the Cambridge University Opera Society. He is a distant cousin of the actress Claire Bloom.

Snowman is the co-founder of London Sinfonietta and its general manager from 1968 to 72. In 1976, Snowman, the composer and conductor Pierre Boulez and French culture minister Michel Guy co-founded the Ensemble InterContemporain in Paris.

Snowman was general director (Arts) at the South Bank Centre, London from 1986, becoming chief executive in 1992 until 1998.

On 28 October 1990, he appeared on Desert Island Discs, choosing Smiley's People by John le Carré as his favourite book and a coffee machine as his luxury item.

From 1998, he succeeded Anthony Whitworth-Jones as general manager of Glyndebourne Festival Opera. However, he left suddenly in 2000, because "he was resigning to spend more time with his family". A claim that he was sacked was denied by Snowman and by Gus Christie, executive chairman and son of Sir George Christie. From 2003-09, he was director of Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, France.

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