1. John Preston Amis was a British broadcaster, classical music critic, music administrator, and writer.
15 Facts About John Amis
1. 2.
John Amis was a frequent contributor for The Guardian and to BBC radio and television music programming.
3.
John Amis was born in Dulwich, London, son of James Amis, whose elder brother, William, was father of the novelist Kingsley Amis.
4.
John Amis began his career working in a bank for five and a half weeks before leaving to earn a living in music.
5.
John Amis was for several years manager for Sir Thomas Beecham, and worked for the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
6.
In 1948, William Glock invited John Amis to run a summer school for musicians at Bryanston School, Dorset.
7.
John Amis remained administrative director until 1981, during which time he brought to the school a long line of international musicians, amongst them Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinsky, and Sir Michael Tippett.
8.
John Amis made his operatic debut in 1990 as the Emperor in Turandot.
9.
John Amis was closely associated with Gerard Hoffnung and organized many of Hoffnung's concerts until the latter's death in 1959; he performed a comic duet from The Barber of Darmstadt with Owen Brannigan at the 1961 Hoffnung Festival.
10.
John Amis spent much of his time giving talks and one-man shows, after dinner speeches and concert works.
11.
John Amis was a patron of the Music Libraries Trust and the Tait Memorial Trust, and a vice-president of the Putney Music society.
12.
In June 1948, John Amis married the violinist Olive Zorian, founder of the Zorian String Quartet.
13.
John Amis once said that she gave him his "Indian summer".
14.
John Amis was survived by his partner for his last six years, Isla Baring.
15.
John Amis's funeral was held on 20 August 2013 at the Musicians' Church, St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in London.