Lord Laidlaw is a committed philanthropist, serial entrepreneur, and accomplished sportsman wth a deep seated love of opera. A graduate of Leeds University and Columbia Business School, Lord Laidlaw founded the Institute for International Research Ltd (IIR) which became the world’s largest conference and training company. He sold it in 2005 for $1.4bn to Informa Plc.

He has since gone on to build a large property company and invest extensively in sustainable energy, including the Veja Mate Offshore Wind Farm where he was the majority owner. He is the Chair and sole benefactor of the Laidlaw Foundation which invests in education in order to break the cycle of poverty, reduce inequality and develop a new generation of ethical leaders.

Anne Marabini Young began her career as a freelance opera singer, receiving prestigious awards such as The Joan Sutherland Scholarship and winning the Sydney Sun Aria competition. She amassed over 20 years of experience with many well-renowned organisations including but certainly not limited to Opera Australia, Television New Zealand, Buxton Festival, English National Opera, and Glyndebourne Opera.

In 1996, she established Diva Opera, a touring chamber opera company that has gained international acclaim under her leadership as General Director for the past 28 years. Overseeing all aspects of production, she has curated and executed 28 annual tours across the UK, Europe, and internationally, comprising over 2,000 opera performances and numerous galas and concerts.

Her role as General Director encompasses a range of responsibilities including auditioning and casting opera singers, negotiating contracts with artists and agents, managing finances, and collaborating closely with music agents, festival directors, and other industry professionals. Additionally, her commitment to Opera extends to organizing programs for school children in the UK and France, fostering a deeper engagement with opera among younger audiences.

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Now retired, Lady Haddon-Cave was called to the bar in 1978 but left to pursue a career in business and spent a good part of the 80s and early 90s working for textile giant Courtaulds where she fulfilled a number of roles culminating in Head of Corporate Identity and Internal Communications.

In 1992 Courtaulds demerged its textiles and chemical businesses and she continued to work as a consultant for the textile side of the business until moving to the country in 1993.

Since then, she has served as a school Governor becoming Chair of the Royal School in Haslemere. She also served as Chair of the Grayshott Society – a group she helped to set up - to work alongside the Parish Council to safeguard the Victorian centre of the village where she lived. She stood down from all her voluntary roles in 2020.

Opera has always formed a significant part of her leisure time ever since she discovered the Royal Opera House as a student and Glyndebourne in her early 20s. When Grange Park opera was being formed at The Grange in Northington, she and her husband, Lord Haddon-Cave, became founder members. That enjoyment continued when Lord Haddon-Cave was asked to serve as Chairman of the new opera company – The Grange Festival – which took over The Grange in 2017. She served on the ballet committee for several years and chaired the committee for the first major fundraising dinner in 2019.

She was thrilled when Lord Laidlaw asked her to become a trustee of LOT as they had talked about the challenges facing opera many times over the years and to have the opportunity to help the art form she loves make its way safely through into the 21st century is hugely exciting.

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Lord Justice Haddon-Cave was called to the Bar in 1978 (G) and called to the Hong Kong Bar in 1980. He specialised in shipping and aviation law and acted in a number of notable UK aviation and marine disaster cases such as Manchester Air Disaster, Herald of Free Enterprise, Braer Disaster, Kegworth Aircrash, Knight Air Crash, BP Trent and Marchioness Disaster. He was appointed by the Secretary of State for Defence to conduct The Nimrod Review into loss of RAF Nimrod MR2 aircraft XV230 in Afghanistan (2007-2009).

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave was appointed Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 1999 and served as an Assistant Recorder from 1998 to 2000. He then served as a Recorder until his appointment to the High Court (Queen’s Bench Division, now King’s Bench Division) on 31 October 2011. Between 2014 and 2017 he was Presiding Judge of the Circuit in the Midlands and the Judge in Charge of the Terrorist List from 2017-2018, until his appointment to the Court of Appeal on 3 October 2018. He was appointed a member of the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee in 2018.

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave was appointed Deputy Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales, with effect from 1 January 2020. He served as Senior Presiding Judge from 1 October 2021 until 30 September 2022. Lord Justice Haddon-Cave is currently Chair of The Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan.

Regarding become a Trustee of the Laidlaw Opera Trust, he says, “I was fortunate to have been at school at King’s Canterbury where music was a central part of the curriculum.  My era was blessed with heroes and legends such as Stephen Barlow, Harry Christophers and Andrew Marriner.  The inspirational Director of Music, Edred Wright, gave everyone a love of music and nurtured talent even as limited as my own (journeyman leader of the second violins and a sort of bass/baritone).  Music was woven into every aspect of the fabric of school life - choir practice in the Cathedral, chamber orchestra sessions, school orchestra rehearsals, house music competitions, numerous concerts during King’s Week and performances galore of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Amanda and I gained an early love of opera from visits to Glyndebourne in the old theatre – particularly memorable was Erté’s stunning Rosenkavalier with Felicity Lott in 1982 and Klein’s Cenerentola in 1983 with Donato Renzetti conducing the LPO.  We also loved going to performances at Garsington.

We were approached in 1998 by the wonderful Rachel Pearson and asked to be founder members of the Grange Park Opera at Northington.  In 2017, I was asked by the late Lord Ashburton and his son Mark Baring to help set up the new opera company at Northington, The Grange Festival.  We we were fortunate to recruit the brilliant Michael Chance CBE as the Artistic Director.  It was an honour to serve as Chair of The Grange Festival from 2017 until 2022.

We had got to know and admire Irvine and Christine Laidlaw, who have been such sterling supporters of opera over the years.  I was delighted to be asked by Lord Laidlaw in 2023 to become a trustee of the Laidlaw Opera Trust. It will be a privilege to help opera meet the increasing challenges it faces and ensure we can foster and sustain this unique and precious phenomenon of the performing arts for future generations.”

Susanna is the Chief Executive of the Laidlaw Foundation which invests in education in order to break the cycle of poverty, reduce inequality and develop a new generation of ethical leaders. She was the founding CEO of the Laidlaw Opera Trust and believes passionately in the power of art to enrich humanity; connecting people across language and cultural divides, enhancing critical thinking and creativity, helping us to understand our history and shape a better future.

Prior to joining Laidlaw, Susanna was a global partner at Brunswick Group, the critical issues advisory firm; CEO of WGSN, the world’s leading fashion forecaster; Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer of Emap Ltd and CMO of Informa plc.