and his wife audrey mildmay, the english born canadian soprano. the family tradition was continued by their son, george, and now their grandson, gus, who runs glyndebourne, lives on the grounds with his wife, the celebrated australian american soprano danielle de niese. my dad turned it from being a sort of a country house homespun festival into a world renowned international festival. he knocked down the theatre that his dad had built and he rebuilt the current theatre, which is a 1,200 seater, in the early 90s. and do you have any plans for its evolution? well, you have to have an eye for tradition on the past, but you have to keep relevant. it s about putting on fantastic world class, transformative operas. it s about nurturing young talent.
that people really love when they see her on stage. danielle was born in australia to sri lankan parents of partial european descent. at the age of nine, she was the youngest winner of a national tv talent competition. when you look at my career, because i started so young, it looks like everything happened quite fast. but given that i already knew from eight i wanted to be an opera singer and i was doing piano and theory from seven and voice lessons from eight, in some way, i was, like, being steadily prepared for being able to accomplish my dreams already, just kind of ahead of everybody else. the family moved to los angeles in america when she was about ten and she started singing professionally as a teenager. i was very fortunate that my parents made lots of sacrifices over the years to be able to get me the best training that would allow me to fulfill this dream.
have the luxury of the space, but it still remains a beacon for us all and has done for well over a decade now, that climate action really matters. i would love to think that audiences really care about the climate crisis. i suspect that, just like in most other areas, there s a generational difference. young people really mind because it s their futures, it s their world. as well as sustainability, glyndebourne is committed to widening the operatic talent pool. danielle de niese is patron of pegasus opera company in london, which provides opportunities for diverse artists.
and now their grandson, gus, who runs glyndebourne, lives on the grounds with his wife, the celebrated australian american soprano danielle de niese. my dad turned it from being a sort of a country house homespun festival into a world renowned international festival. he knocked down the theatre that his dad had built and he rebuilt the current theatre, which is a 1,200 seater, in the early 90s. and do you have any plans for its evolution? well, you have to have an eye for tradition on the past, but you have to keep relevant. it s about putting on fantastic world class, transformative operas. it s about nurturing young talent. that is the same, but if you want to attract the next generation of audiences in, you cannot keep performing in the same way with traditional sets and costumes.
i suppose the biggest singer is pavarotti himself, who performed here in idomeneo. sings operatically. one notable glyndebourne performer is danielle de niese. sweeping strings. sings operatically. dani de niese is a phenomenal talent, as we all know. she brings this incredible stage personality, which is full of fizz and charisma, and she brings a wonderful voice, of course, she s a great communicator on stage and she acts really well. and it s that combination that people really love when they see her on stage. danielle was born in australia