Current Issue #488

Key changes: State Opera announces new leaders

Key changes: State Opera announces new leaders

The State Opera of SA (SOSA) reveals its new leadership team nine months after Timothy Sexton’s shock resignation as executive and artistic director in May 2017.

The duo in charge is former Sydney Youth Orchestras’ CEO Yarmila Alfonzetti (executive director) and Stuart Maunder (artistic director) replacing Sexton who was artistic and executive director from 2011 to 2017.

Alfonzetti and Maunder bring a wealth of experience from opera and orchestral companies interstate and overseas as Alfonzetti spent three years as the Sydney Youth Orchestras’ CEO after seven years as Sydney Opera House’s head of classic music. Alfonzetti says in a release that SOSA is a company “whose work has a proud history and one which arts aficionados regularly reference in discussions about opera, invention and achievement in the performing arts”.

“This company has a great legacy upon which we can build an exciting future,” Alfonzetti says.

state-opera-south-australia-stuart-maunder-adelaide-review

Maunder comes to SOSA after four years as New Zealand Opera’s general director.

“Opera in Australia needs a vibrant, forward thinking company to celebrate the unique possibilities on offer, and SOSA is just that company,” he says.

Alfonzetti begins her role on March 1. The next SOSA production is Georges Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, which runs from May 12 to May 19 at The Festival Theatre.

saopera.sa.gov.au

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