Graham has been involved with White Horse Opera for over ten years now. He was first engaged to compère some gala concerts and was subsequently asked to direct Rossini’s Count Ory. This was followed by La Traviata, Norma and Die Fledermaus, the last two of which featured his own new English translations. He appeared – sometimes very fleetingly – in all these productions, playing a breathless messenger, a bemused gardener, a grim Roman officer and a drunken officer respectively. After a break, he rejoined the company in 2004 to play the innkeeper Lillas Pastia in Carmen and has not managed to leave since.

Last year he was delighted to have the opportunity to direct Offenbach’s masterpiece The Tales of Hoffmann, which it had always been his ambition to stage, with a first-rate cast and production team. In this opera he played two episodic roles, a monosyllabic servant and a sinister hunchback, and greatly enjoyed working for the first time with musical director Francis Griffin. Graham has also directed and performed with Bath Opera, Trowbridge Amateur Operatic Society and Opera Piccola, of which he is the artistic director. He is a member of the Playwrights’ Co-operative, which publishes three of his plays.