Royal Opera House Chief Exec Tony Hall steps down

22 November 2012, 14:05 | Updated: 18 September 2014, 14:46

Tony Hall, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, has left his position. The search is now on for his successor.

The Royal Opera House have confirmed that their Chief Executive Tony Hall will leave the organisation in March to take the role of Director-General at the BBC. Tributes have rolled in from Hall's colleagues at the opera house, and the search for a successor will begin immediately.

In a statement, ROH Chairman of the Board of Trustees Simon Robey said: "Tony has been a truly distinguished Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House. He has been a tremendous and inspiring force for good. The ROH he will leave in March is very different to the one he took over in 2001."

He added: "We have a world-class senior team, both artistic and non-artistic, led by Antonio Pappano, Kasper Holten and Kevin O'Hare. Our artistic standards and reputation have never been higher and are unsurpassed around the world."

Artistic Director Antonio Pappano commented: "Tony has been the most wonderful advocate for both the Royal Opera House and opera more generally. He has grabbed every opportunity to enable us to get opera way beyond the Opera House auditorium into homes and cinemas around the world."

Robey also said that despite Hall not leaving until March, the search was definitely on for his replacement: "We will turn immediately to finding a worthy successor. I am confident that this exceptional place will continue to be led by an exceptional person."