| Gavin Plumley | |
| Birth Date: | 2 March 1981 |
| Birth Place: | Dundee, Scotland, UK |
| Occupation: | Cultural Historian, Writer, Broadcaster, Lecturer |
| Genre: | Narrative Non-Fiction |
| Nationality: | British |
| Alma Mater: | Keble College, Oxford |
| Spouse: | Alastair Tighe (m. 2009) |
Gavin Plumley (born 2 March 1981) is a British cultural historian, writer, lecturer and broadcaster.
Born in Dundee, Gavin Plumley was brought up in Wales, before moving to London, and was educated at Keble College, Oxford. He lives in the village of Pembridge in Herefordshire with his husband Alastair Tighe, Head Master of Wells Cathedral School, and their dog Nimrod.[1]
Having graduated in 2002, he worked at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and as a theatrical agent. Plumley became a freelance writer and broadcaster in October 2011, specialising in the music and culture of Central Europe. He has written about work about Vienna in 1900, and appeared in the 2023 documentary Klimt and The Kiss.[2]
He has written for Country Life,[3] The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, Literary Review, The Hudson Review, GQ, Opera, Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine.[4] Plumley has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, including at The Proms, and on BBC Radio 4.[5]
Plumley has written for opera companies such as the Salzburg Festival, where he edited the English-language concert programmes from 2013 to 2021, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, La Monnaie, Brussels, Dutch National Opera, Opera North, Scottish Opera, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera and the Royal Opera House and for orchestras and concert halls including Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the CBSO, the LSO and Wigmore Hall.[6]
As well as his work for The Arts Society, both at home and abroad, he has lectured at numerous art galleries, museums, opera houses and concert halls, including the National Theatre, the National Trust, National Gallery, the British Museum, the Neue Galerie, New York, the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Garsington, Glyndebourne, Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre.[7]
His first book, A Home for All Seasons, was published in 2022, and is an account of his move to an old house in Pembridge, with musings about the history of the area and the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.[8] [9] The book was launched at the Hay Festival and at Wigmore Hall.[10]