Lindy Hume
Director
Lindy Hume, AM, is one of Australia’s leading directors, acknowledged internationally for fresh interpretations of a wide variety of repertoire, and for progressive artistic leadership of a number of Australian arts organisations, including Opera Queensland (2012-2017), Sydney Festival (2010-2012) and Perth International Arts Festival (2004-2007). She was also the first Artistic Director of West Australian Opera (1992-96), Artistic Director of Victoria State Opera and then OzOpera (1996-2001). Lindy has most recently been Creative Director of the Four Winds Easter Festival, Bermagui and is currently Artistic Director of the 10 Days on the Island Festival, Tasmania 2019-2023. In 2021 Lindy Hume was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the performing arts, particularly to opera.
After a hugely successful year in 2021, during which Lindy directed The Marriage of Figaro for New Zealand Opera, Madama Butterfly for Welsh National Opera and The Barber of Seville for State Opera South Australia, 2022 saw her continuing in her roles as Creative Director of the Four Winds Easter Festival and Artistic Director of the 10 Days on the Island Festival, Tasmania as well as developing a new staged presentation of Schubert’s Die Winterreise for Musica Viva’s national tour of the work with Alan Clayton, which was also seen at the Barbican, in London. Lindy’s production of Rigoletto was also presented by Opera Philadelphia.
Most recently she has directed The Marriage of Figaro for New Zealand Opera, Madama Butterfly for Welsh National Opera, Rigoletto and Cenerentola for Seattle Opera, Carmen for Opera Leipzig, West Australian Opera and New Zealand Opera, The Barber of Seville in Seattle, and for State Opera South Australia and New Zealand Opera, Cenerentola for Royal Swedish Opera Stockholm, Athalia (Handel) for Pinchgut Opera and, for Opera Queensland Don Giovanni, Ruddigore, Mozart Airborne and A Night With Opera Queensland.
As a director, Lindy has created more than 50 major productions across Australasia including Carmen, Don Giovanni, Fledermaus, La Périchole and Les pêcheurs de perles (Opera Australia), Orlando, Trouble in Tahiti and The Barber of Seville (OzOpera), Alcina and Orpheus in the Underworld (West Australian Opera), Carmina Burana (State Opera of South Australia/The Australian Ballet), Idomeneo (Pinchgut Opera), Rigoletto and Lucia di Lammermoor (NBR New Zealand Opera).
European productions include La bohème (Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin, which was telecast live throughout Europe), Tolomeo (Musiektheater Transparant in Belgium), Radamisto (Handel Festspiele and Opernhaus Halle), A Streetcar Named Desire and Norma (Opera Theatre St Gallen in Switzerland), Così fan tutte (Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London), and Albert Herring and Phaedra (Aldeburgh Festival in the UK). She made her American debut in 2004 directing The Barber of Seville for Houston Grand Opera, returning in 2009 and 2013 to direct Rigoletto and Die Fledermaus respectively. She has also staged Bach’s St Matthew Passion and directed Rossini’s Cinderella in her own English translation for Opera Queensland and Don Pasquale (Oper Leipzig), ABANDON (co-director) and Rigoletto (both for Opera Queensland) and Iphigénie en Tauride (Pinchgut Opera). Her production of “Cenerentola” (this time performed in the original Italian version) was produced by NBR New Zealand Opera in 2015 and presented by Oper Leipzig and in San Diego in 2016. Other recent productions include Rossini’s Comte Ory in Seattle, West Australian Opera’s Gianni Schicchi at Opera in the Park, Snow White and The Barber of Seville for Opera Queensland and Theodora for Pinchgut.
Lindy is recognised as a champion of new Australian work across a range of genres. As Artistic Director of OzOpera, she commissioned the MDTV project, award-winning screen operas with ABC TV, and major Australian works including Paul Grabowsky’s Love in the Age of Therapy and Richard Mills’ Batavia (with Opera Australia and the Melbourne Centenary of Federation Festival). Lindy’s 2001 production of Batavia won the Helpmann and Green Room Awards for Best Director and Best Production. In 2007, she commissioned and directed the world première of Richard Mills/Timberlake Wertenbaker’s opera The Love of the Nightingale, one of several new creations for Perth International Arts Festival within the award-winning Wesfarmers Arts Commissions series.
New Australian work, a focus on contemporary Indigenous culture, the development of a distinctive regional identity and celebration of local communities have been fortes of her tenure as Artistic Director of the Perth International Arts Festival 2004-2007and as Festival Director of the 2010-2012 Sydney Festival, Australia’s largest and most popular annual arts event. Lindy’s 2010 Sydney Festival won 5 Helpmann Awards from 9 nominations including Best New Australian Work for Smoke & Mirrors (Sydney Festival in partnership with Spiegeltent International), Best Major Event (Festival First Night), and Best Classical or Orchestral Concert (Oedipus Rex/Symphony of Psalms). Alongside a focus on Australian innovation and bold international programming, Lindy’s Sydney Festivals have been recognised for their cultural diversity and inclusiveness, featuring programming from the Asia Pacific region and Indigenous Sydney. In 2012, the expansion of the Festival program in Parramatta and Black Capital, a major celebration of Redfern, were important landmarks for the Festival.
Lindy Hume is the recipient of an Australia Council Theatre Board Fellowship and holds a Graduate Diploma in Arts Administration from the University of South Australia. In 2007, she was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by The University of Western Australia in recognition of her contribution to the cultural life of Western Australia and in 2013 was named one of Australia’s 100 Women of Influence. Lindy became a Member of the Order of Australia in 2021 and also holds a PhD from QUT. Lindy Hume has served on various boards including the Board of SouthEast Arts (chair), Regional Arts NSW (chair), the Australia Council’s Major Performing Arts Board, Festival of Voices in Tasmania, and NORPA.