Gramophone’s Former Editor Christopher Pollard has Died, Aged 67

Pollard was a member of the third generation of the Pollard family, which became involved with Gramophone magazine in 1924

Born in 1957, Chris Pollard attended Merchant Taylors’ School in England, where one of his teachers was Gramophone magazine’s vocal expert, the late John Steane.

In 1977, the 20-year-old Pollard joined his father at Gramophone’s Advertisement Sales Department in a role he did not feel was a right fit for him. 

After a three-year business management course, Pollard returned to the magazine in 1981 to work in the editorial department, first as Managing Editor, and then as Editor in 1986. 

In his new role, he was pivotal in raising the profile of the Gramophone Awards and in securing the ITV broadcast of the 1997 Awards.

Reaching almost 2.5 million audience members, the broadcast featured artists including Murray Perahia, Andreas Scholl, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Paul McCartney, Kiri Te Kanawa, Luciano Pavarotti, and the London Symphony Orchestra. 

In 1999, the Pollard family sold Gramophone to Michael Heseltine’s Haymarket Group. Despite this, Pollard maintained an informed interest in classical music recording. 

“Chris’s enthusiasm and boundless energy made him a great colleague but also a much-loved figure in the classical record industry, an industry for which he had enormous passion and knowledge,” said Gramophone’s former editor and Pollard’s successor, James Jolly in a tribute. “He will be greatly missed by his many friends and former colleagues.”

Our condolences to Mr. Pollard’s family, friends, and colleagues.