Opera Australia has appointed its first-ever female artistic director, with Jo Davies to commence her historic role in November 2023, replacing Lyndon Terracini who stepped down from the position in October this year.
Davies, who was born in Cardiff, UK, has worked with the world’s most respected opera companies including the Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company, San Francisco Opera and the English National Opera.
With a celebrated career as a director, writer and producer of opera, theatre and musical productions for over two decades, Davis said she hopes to explore Australian stories and present programs that reflects the Australian community and spirit.
“I am honoured and thrilled to take up this appointment as Artistic Director and by the opportunity to work with the superb team of talented and ambitious people at OA creating extraordinary opera and musical theatre,” Davies said in a statement.
“My work is committed to broadening opera and discovering the potency of stories that make a social connection, so I am hugely excited to work with the broad community of incredible artists that Australia has to offer.”
Davis said she looks forward to collaborating with Opera Australia CEO Fiona Allan and her team to present a rich range of national and international programming that “reflects the passions and politics of 21st century Australia.”
Allan described Davis as a “standout candidate” in the worldwide search for a new artistic director.
“During an extensive series of interviews, she met with representatives from our performing and administrative departments, who expressed their admiration for her programming ideas and loved her collaborative approach,” Allan said.
“Her depth of experience across opera, theatre and musicals, as well as her demonstrated commitment to developing talent, made her an outstanding candidate.”
“It is an incredibly exciting time in OA’s history as we emerge from the pandemic and move forward with a new strategy to make Opera Australia more reflective of a 21st century Australia, and to celebrate our own stories and talent – a strategy that is completely in concordance with Jo’s ideas and values around what opera can be.”
OA Chairman Rod Sims agreed that selecting Davis was an excellent decision.
“After an exhaustive search, Fiona and the OA team have chosen an outstanding candidate,” he said. “We were after someone with a clear audience focus, who will be deeply collaborative internally and externally, who is innovative, and who is interested in all aspects of talent development, and in Jo we have found someone who excels in all these areas.”
“She is widely respected, has excellent international connections and will bring a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective to OA’s program.”