[ 2023 WOMEN OPERA MAKERS WORKSHOP ] DISCOVER THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS!

The Festival d’Aix-en-Provence is pleased to announce the 17 artists who have been selected to participate in the 7th edition of the Women Opera Makers Workshop — an engaged, flagship programme of the Académie.

Launched in 2016, with the support of enoa and Creative Europe programme, this workshop was designed to help counter the blatant gender imbalance in the composition of creative teams in the world of opera: i.e. among conductors, stage directors, composers and librettists. Under the mentorship of British stage director Katie Mitchell, the Workshop offers a comprehensive programme for professional development to high-level women opera makers selected or invited for the quality of their artistic work, and includes the reinforcement of a sororal interprofessional network, the sharing of experience, and the acquisition of strategic career development tools to combat discrimination and gender-based and sexual harassment in the workplace.

Innovative from its inception, the Workshop still remains a benchmark programme in the cultural sector. It is supported throughout Europe for its character as a pilot programme, and is frequently cited as an exemplary initiative — such as by the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme (‘National Consultative Commission on Human Rights’) in its October 2022 issue of Actes (page 93).

The final makeup of the 2023 group of artists was determined through constant research, the monitoring of artistic talents, numerous meetings, and awareness-raising actions within the performing arts sector. The record number of applications for this edition is a testament to the reputation of this programme for women opera makers. It also highlights the need to continue this work in order to foster greater diversity among artists in opera and the performing arts.

The 2023 Women Opera Makers Workshop is supported by the SACD.

Workshop participants will be actively involved in the Opera Makers meetings on 13 and 14 July, as part of the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence Professional Days.

The following artists have been selected for the 2023 Women Opera Makers Workshop:

Multidisciplinary Artists
Lafawndah (Yasmine Dubois-Ziai) (France)
Geraldine Pilgrim (UK)

Authors
Beverly Andrews (USA)
Simone Ibbett-Brown (UK)
Marie Dilasser (France)
Claudine Galea (France)

Composers
Layale Chaker (Lebanon)
Cassie Kinoshi (UK)
Eska Mtungwazi (UK)
Du Yun (China/USA)

Choreographer
Sarita Piotrowski (UK)

Stage Directors
Chloé Dabert (France)
Lisenka Heijboer Castañón (Netherlands)
Floor Houwink ten Cate (Netherlands)
Kenza Koutchoukali (Netherlands)
Béatrice Lachaussée (France)
Victoria Stevens (South Africa)