Our People

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Jose sets the artistic vision for the company and his expertise is a key ingredient in steering us to success. Jose's fun-filled approach in rehearsals means he never loses his cool in the hot seat, while his demand for excellence onstage is why our audiences keep coming back for more.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

A proven leader, Alice is a talented musician, mother, wife, entrepreneur, and business owner. Her vision for Festival Opera and passion for the Hawke’s Bay community brings a new lease of life to the team and to the kaupapa of Festival Opera.

PRINCIPAL STAGE DIRECTOR

John’s character and talents align perfectly with the Festival Opera vision. John hails from Scotland and is in demand all over the world, but since he joined the team in 2019 to direct La Traviata, we can’t imagine being on this journey without him.

FOUNDER / EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Driving the success of ​F​estival Opera has been as satisfying as any curtain call ​for this opera singer. Always in the audience, Anna now relishes​ the chance to train her focus on all the possibilities that ​the artform can offer ​new ​and unsuspecting audiences​ through her development role with the Prima Volta Charitable Trust.

RELATIONSHIP LIAISON

Mary’s passion for opera is relatively new but her passion for people knows no bounds. People are her priority and she champions those who give so generously of their time, talents and resources.

#operaclass COORDINATOR

PPV Graduate Hannah knows the benefits of bringing young people to the opera first-hand so who better to reach out to schools to share the benefits of involvement in Festival Opera’s outreach programme, #operaclass. Hannah has her finger on the pulse of youth engagement, moonlighting as PPV Manager.