Jonathan Miller was born in London, England, and read natural sciences at St. John's College, Cambridge; he qualified as a doctor of medicine in 1959. Since then his career has covered many different fields: author; lecturer; television producer and presenter; theatre, opera and film director.
His theatre reputation was built on his many Shakespeare productions, including The Merchant of Venice with Sir Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright. Other stage productions include Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, with Jack Lemmon, on Broadway and in London. As Artistic Director of London's Old Vic Theatre, he directed many acclaimed productions and built up a remarkable reputation in the classical repertory.
Dr. Miller's operatic début was in 1973, since when he has directed at many of the world's great opera houses. His twenty-year association with English National Opera has led to a series of productions, some of which have become legendary. These include Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and The Magic Flute, which were performed to critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic.
As an opera director he has close associations with the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Vienna State Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, La Scala, Milan, the Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin, The Metropolitan Opera, New York and The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He has also recently completed a cycle of Donizetti's operas for Monte Carlo Opera.
In 1995 he opened the English National Opera season with a new production of Bizet's Carmen , directed a new production of Puccini's La Boheme at La Bastille, Paris, and returned to The Met for a new production of Debussy's Pelléas and Mélisande.
Dr. Miller is a frequent lecturer on a wide variety of subjects. His most recent series From The Look of Things, for London's National Gallery, was also delivered at the Metropolitan Museum, New York in 1995. He has written a number of books, including The Body In Question and States of Mind, based on his successful television series of the same names.
His semi-staged performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion was filmed for the BBC and recorded for United Records.
Future work includes operatic productions In the UK, the US, Italy and Germany. He has recently completed two major television series in co-production for the BBC.
