Opera Australia artistic director Jo Davies has quit, effective immediately, nine months into the job and midway through her inaugural season.
The acclaimed British director started at the national company part-time in 2023 and stepped into the job full-time in November that year.
“The agreed decision follows differences of opinion about how Opera Australia should successfully balance artistic innovation, audience development and commercial imperatives moving forward,” the company said in a statement.
Davies’ departure followed differences of views and discussions over a long period, and while it was not acrimonious, it was “obviously extremely unfortunate”, Opera Australia chairman Rod Sims told AAP.
The company posted an operating deficit of $7.8 million for 2023 and Sims flagged another year in the red in 2024.
“We’ve got things we need to wrestle with, and we will, we’ll overcome,” said Sims.
Opera Australia is expected to suffer a sizeable loss on its current co-production of Sunset Boulevard, which saw poor reviews in Melbourne and star Sarah Brightman unable to perform after an injury.
The production has just begun its run at the Sydney Opera House until November.
“I have loved my time working with and for artists and audiences at Opera Australia, and I am thrilled with the critical success of the 2024 Sydney and Melbourne opera seasons,” Davies said in a statement issued Friday.
With the appointment of chief executive Fiona Allan in 2021, and Davies in 2023, Opera Australia had been the first major opera company in the world to be led by two women.
However Davies and Allan reportedly had undergone mediation prior to Davies’ departure.
Davies programmed Opera Australia’s slate from mid-2024, including Tosca, Watershed, Il Trittico and Hamlet in Sydney.
In Melbourne, the company has had to contend with the closure of the State Theatre at Arts Centre Australia, with Davies presenting a production of Tosca at the Margaret Court Arena.
A review of the company’s artistic management and planning has been underway since July.
Opera Australia’s 2025 season will be announced in September.
