Stuart Murphy

For the visual learning specialist and author, see Stuart J. Murphy.

Stuart Neil Luke Murphy CBE (born 6 November 1971 in Leeds) was the Chief Executive of the English National Opera (2018–2023).[1][2] He was educated at St Mary's School, Menston and Clare College, Cambridge.

From 2012 to 2015, he was Director, Entertainment Channels at Sky overseeing Sky 1, Sky Living, Sky Arts and the launch of Sky Atlantic. Sky won its first Emmy Awards and Oscar nominations as well as BAFTAs, British Comedy Awards and Royal Television Society Awards during this period. Murphy also had responsibility for Sky Arts, which as well as a channel is an on-demand library of arts and cultural content in Europe.[3]

In 2003 Murphy launched BBC Three and commissioned Little Britain, Gavin and Stacey and Flashmob The Opera. Before BBC Three, he was Channel Controller of BBC Choice, and previously he ran UK Play, a music and comedy channel co-owned by BBC Worldwide.

Previously a board member of the A&E Networks International, and Silicon Valley–based Jaunt Virtual Reality Company.[4] He was made a Fellow of the Royal Television Society in 2016.[5]

Under Stuart Murphy, the ENO broadened the appeal of opera and mixed the age, ethnicity, and social background of ENO's audience by introducing radical ticketing schemes by offering free tickets for under-21s and subsidised tickets for under-35s (ENO being the only opera company in the world to offer such a scheme).[6][7][8]

As a teenager, he played clarinet for the Leeds Youth Orchestra and Leeds Youth Opera.

  1. ^ "English National Opera Announces Plan to Diversify".
  2. ^ Mukisa, Shirley (19 October 2022). "ENO announces departure of Stuart Murphy, CEO, in September 2023". English National Opera. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  3. ^ Plunkett, John (16 October 2015). "Sky's Stuart Murphy rules out BBC job as he quits for writing career". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  4. ^ Jaafar, Ali (16 October 2015). "Sky Entertainment Channels Chief Stuart Murphy To Step Down". Deadline. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  5. ^ "Stuart Murphy". Royal Television Society. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  6. ^ Murphy, Stuart (11 March 2018). "I fell in love with opera at 15 … now I want millions to do the same". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Under 21s Come Free". English National Opera. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Under 35s Discounted Opera Tickets". English National Opera. Retrieved 18 September 2023.