Thursday, August 25, 2011

Romophone Founder Louise Barder Meets Roger Federer

Tennis brawn meets musical brains.
Yesterday, Louise Barder - Senior Publicist and Editorial Director at 21C Media Group - had a chance to meet Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer. She even managed to slip the topic of opera into their brief conversation. Who knows, he might enjoy the art form as much as fellow tennis professional Novak Djokovic:
"Louise Barder was born in England and grew up all over the world (including the Soviet Union, Australia, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Poland), living wherever her diplomat father's postings took her. Back in England, having graduated from the University of Exeter with a degree in Psychology, she worked as an editor on a variety of musical publications, including the Grove Concise Dictionary of Music and the Grove Dictionary of Opera, The Musical Times, Radio Times (the BBC's house magazine), The Strad magazine, and the music books at Oxford University Press (in both its Oxford and New York offices). Louise founded Romophone, the Gramophone Award-winning vocal reissues label that set a new benchmark for other labels and subsidiary labels specializing in historical vocal recordings. As well as being an executive producer for Romophone's CDs, Louise quickly established worldwide distribution and a high-profile international reputation for the label, which boasted a feature profile in The New York Times, broadcast features on the BBC, and superlative coverage in the press and broadcast media throughout the world. Louise continued to run the company and oversee its production, sales and promotion until it ceased trading in 2004. Before joining 21C Media Group, Louise worked with Albert Imperato and Glenn Petry in the marketing and press department of Universal Classics." [Source]

Find some of your favorite Romophone recordings by clicking here: