John Duffus

John Duffus has been involved in almost every aspect of the management and presentation of music, arts and entertainment events at the highest international level.

Since moving to Asia in 1979, he has been:

Managing Director (Asia) of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Company;
Tokyo-based Artists Director (Asia) for Mark McCormack’s International Management Group (IMG);
Managing Director of the Artists’ Management and Event Promotion Company Pacific Images in Hong Kong;
General Manager of The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra;
Secretary General of Asian Promoters’ organisation The Federation for Asian Cultural Promotion.

In addition to bringing CATS to Asia for The Really Useful Group and preparing the groundwork for The Phantom of the Opera, John Duffus has also presented in Hong Kong and other cities in Asia:

opera mega-stars Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Jessye Norman, Renée Fleming;
top international instrumentalists including Isaac Stern, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mikhail Pletnev, Yo Yo Ma, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sir James Galway, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman;
ensembles including The Spanish National Ballet, The USSR State Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, I Solisti Veneti and The LA Chamber Orchestra;
international pop stars Dionne Warwick, Gloria Gaynor, Elaine Paige, Olivia Newton John and Manhattan Transfer, and Hong Kong stars Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung.

John Duffus has a first class honours degree in Music. He joined the BBC in London as a graduate trainee and worked with Scottish Opera in Glasgow as Technical Controller and Assistant General Manager. He moved to Asia in 1979 to take up the post of General Manager of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.