Remembering Graham Marchant OBE

We have learned with great sadness that Graham Marchant OBE has sadly passed away on December 28, following a period of illness.

Graham was the General Manager and School Director for The Place from 1994-1998, and enjoyed an illustrious career before and after, spanning local authority, the arts and dance sector. Both he and his partner Andrew Hochhauser have been key influencers and supporters of the arts in the UK. Graham was one of the founders of Opera North and particularly proud of its continuing success.

Graham Marchant is remembered by his colleagues, friends and peers as a kind, generous, thoughtful and emphatic leader who will be dearly missed.

Clare Connor, Chief Executive of The Place

I had the privilege to meet Graham in my role as Chief Executive of The Place and I was struck by three things; his dashing good looks, the sharpness of his mind and his love for dance, the arts and most especially for his husband, Andrew.

Over the decades The Place has thrived on a steely, quiet and determined leadership built from a love of dance and of people. However, it takes a skilled craftsperson and a creative engineer to build a vision in the context of a dynamic organisation that is already moving at a pace. The Place is fortunate that Graham was such a person, able to chart a future through an ambitious vision at a critical juncture and work with expertise and skill to then seamlessly pass on the baton to Sue Hoyle OBE. I count myself as deeply fortunate to have met Graham but also to have understood the lineage and legacy that he so generously afforded The Place.

Sue Hoyle OBE

I first met Graham in the 1980s, when he was Director of Arts Co-ordination at the Arts Council - my boss's boss. Graham already had a stellar reputation as an arts administrator, having been one of the founders of Opera North. He was a kind and wise mentor to me and many other junior members of staff, impressing us all with his fierce intellect, strong analytical skills and knowledge and love of all the arts. We were also in awe of his immaculate dress sense and highly polished shoes. Graham gently encouraged me to apply for the job of Dance Director, and supported me when I was given the role. Years later, it was an honour to follow in Graham's footsteps and succeed him as General Manager of The Place in 1998. He had already appointed Allies and Morrison as architects and successfully raised lottery funding for the redevelopment, so my task was to see it through. Graham and I became firm friends, and spent many happy evenings, together with our husbands, affectionately putting the arts world to rights. I shall miss his perceptive comments on cultural issues, but most of all I will miss Graham as a treasured and dearly loved friend.

Assis Carreiro MBE

I met Graham when he was gently assigned to me by Sue Hoyle, then Head of Dance at ACE, as my mentor to help a naive and very young Canadian manage writing her first Strategic Business Plan for a merger with another organisation and relocation. He was very patient and there were a lot of tears and after hours and weekend calls. Throughout, he was the gracious, gorgeous gentleman that we all loved. I was certainly taken under Graham's wing and trusted him as he guided me. Later, he brought me to work with him at The Place to help with the capital fund raising but most importantly for him and me, get me out of Birmingham and to London where I was desperate to reside. We had fun at The Place, our first royal gala in a rather not so gala hotel; and long wonderful chats. I moved on as did he but our friendship continued and his wise words and measured advice were always available to me, even on our last visit together on 17th December, when he was on such good form. I will miss this very generous man. Sue Hoyle certainly chose my mentor well. Little did she know she was seeding a 31 year friendship filled with love.

David Burnie, former Finance Director of The Place

I knew Graham Marchant when he was at The Place during the 1990’s. He arrived at a challenging time in the history of The Place, with London Contemporary Dance Theatre having closed and the organisation being at something of a crossroads. He already had a considerable reputation within the Arts, so it is no surprise that over the next four years he was able to bring a new cohesion and direction to the organisation with a particular emphasis on Artistic leadership. The way he achieved this was both rigorous and compassionate. He was a kind and thoughtful man, who was able to pursue his aims with determination but also with sensitivity.

He laid many of the foundations upon which future leaders have been able to build.

Sir Richard Alston

Graham Marchant was a quiet but singular force in the British Performing Arts. With his clarity of vision allied to a spectacular sense of diplomacy he created new possibilities wherever he focussed his attention. I first knew Graham when I became Artistic Director of Rambert Dance Company in 1986 and Graham joined the Rambert Board. I knew I could always look to Graham for clear and reasoned advice and what is even more important for an artist, articulate and emphatic support. He was wonderfully open in showing how much he loved the work. Our paths crossed again when I was invited in 1994 to The Place to be overall Artistic Director and also to form my own Dance Company. This was hot on the heels of a very difficult and quite drastic change in The Place's history involving the closure of its long-term flagship company, London Contemporary Dance Theatre. Almost as soon as I arrived there, Graham joined as General Manager and was outstandingly successful in managing to firmly pull together the different and somewhat disparate departments of the organisation. He swiftly put in place a structure which lasted at The Place for over two decades. Albeit in only the few years as The Place's General Manager, Graham forged an effective path into a newly recharged future. The Place owes Graham Marchant a great deal.

Alex Beard CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Ballet & Opera

Graham Marchant made a hugely important contribution to Opera in the UK as one of the leading lights in Opera North’s foundation, he played a decisive role through the establishment of the Wigmore Hall, Serpentine Gallery and South Bank Centre as independent organisations, and in his leadership and advocacy for so many performing arts organisations over the years. He was always generous with his insights and wisdom, and a hugely important mentor to many of today’s arts leaders. He will be deeply missed, but leaves a remarkable legacy.

Jenny Waldman CBE, Director of the Art Fund

Graham was brilliant, charming and versatile - a real team player and a great mentor. He became the go-to arts management expert, first as an executive and later as a consultant, navigating the most complex challenges with sensitivity, intellect and humanity. Those of us fortunate to work with Graham admired and learned so much from him.