Opera Australia – which currently lacks a permanent CEO and Artistic Director; the company also posted a $10 million deficit earlier this year – launched its 2026 season yesterday.
Jo Davies, who started as Opera Australia’s Artistic Director in November 2023, abruptly parted ways with the company in August 2024 after less than a year in the role. CEO Fiona Allen subsequently left Opera Australia at the end of January 2025, having started in November 2021.
Their positions are yet to be filled, though according to today’s Sydney Morning Herald, ‘it is believed the board is close to signing off on a new CEO, a music director and possibly a director of opera. The announcement could come as early as this week.’
The 2026 program, the work of many hands, is an astute balance of crowd-pleasing musicals, new and recent works including Watershed: The Death of Doctor Duncan (originally staged at the 2022 Adelaide Festival and described as a ‘compelling and deeply moving act of communal remembrance’ by this writer, before being staged by Opera Australia in 2024), and old favourites.
Productions returning for 2026 include Moffatt Oxenbould’s production of Madama Butterfly, Elijah Moshinsky’s Hansel & Gretel, Graeme Murphy’s The Merry Widow, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin directed by Kasper Holten, and in Melbourne, Sarah Giles’ production of La Traviata.
Opera Australia’s suite of musicals for 2026 – the company’s 70th anniversary year – comprises Anastasia by the Tony Award winning team of Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens and Darko Tresnjak and playing in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney; the previously announced Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, Phantom of the Opera; and a revival of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, playing in Sydney only and co-directed by Julie Andrews (who directed the production’s mothballed 2017 season) and Karen Johnson Mortimer.
New works programmed for 2026 include The Drover’s Wife, previously announced for Brisbane’s QPAC and co-produced by that venue, and which is now revealed to be playing in Sydney in August; a production of La Boheme in Melbourne, directed by Constantine Costi (whose many credits include Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera for Sydney Festival, Melbourne, Cheremushki for Victorian Opera and La Traviata on Sydney Harbour for Opera Australia) and conducted by rising star Finnegan Downie Dear; and in Sydney, a new production of Turandot directed and choreographed by US artist Ann Yee.
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The company’s national tour for 2026 will be Michael Gow’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, which originally toured in 2012. The production will tour to South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales. Specific dates and details have not yet been announced.
Acting CEO Simon Militano said Opera Australia’s 70th anniversary season honours the talented creators, performers, loyal supporters and audiences who have shaped the company’s legacy across seven decades.
‘We’re proud to present a season of extraordinary productions that revive some operatic masterpieces and crowd favourites and invest in new productions that shine a light on emerging talent and stories that reflect the diversity of Australian communities,’ he said in a statement.
‘The unwavering support of our generous supporters, among them donors, corporate partners and government investors allows us to bring these exceptional experiences of music and song to our stages,’ Militano added.
Opera Australia’s Melbourne and Sydney seasons in 2026
In addition to those works already mentioned, Opera Australia’s 2026 Melbourne seasons in Autumn and Spring feature several major concerts at the Regent Theatre (a temporary venue while Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre is being redeveloped).
These include Gilbert & Sullivan: A Musical Celebration directed by Stuart Maunder AM, the Artistic Director of Victorian Opera and a Gilbert & Sullivan devotee; the 70th Anniversary Gala directed by Maunder, conducted by international guest Giampaolo Bisanti and the Sydney-born Sam Weller, and promising ‘a star-studded line up of Australia’s favourite singers’; and Encore! Songs from the Musicals, a tribute to some of the popular musicals Opera Australia has presented in recent years, including The Phantom of the Opera, My Fair Lady, West Side Story and Guys & Dolls.
Given that 2026 also marks the 100th birthday of the late Dame Joan Sutherland, Opera Australia’s Sydney season next year includes La Stupenda: A Joan Sutherland Celebration, in the theatre that bears her name at the Sydney Opera House. The concert will feature Australian soprano Jessica Pratt, who has famously followed in Sutherland’s footsteps as only the third Australian to sing Lucia di Lammermoor at La Scala.
Visit Opera Australia’s website for more details on the company’s 2026 season.
