In April, the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University and Opera Queensland held the inaugural New Opera Workshop (NOW 2019) in Brisbane. According to reports from the conference, the frustration of women opera creators at the lack of gender parity boiled over, prompting a call for new leadership and changes in Australian opera.

The situation has improved massively in Australian theatre over the last decade, as Jane Howard recently explored in a detailed analysis for the ABC. Widespread scrutiny was triggered when Neil Armfield stood on stage to launch Belvoir’s 2009 season with a line-up of directors, only one of which was female. The situation was reignited when Darlinghurst Theatre Company launched its 2016 season of six plays, all directed by men and only two written by women. What’s more, two of the plays featured all-male casts. As a result, there was much debate, policies were put in place, and things improved. In 2019, women make up 47 percent of playwrights and 58 percent of directors on our main stages.

Writing from NOW 2019 for Witness, Alison Croggon said that many women considered the conference to be a “galvanising moment”, similar to the 2009 Belvoir launch. The statistics for women as composers, conductors and directors in classical music and opera are indeed dismal. However, at Opera Australia the situation is gradually improving. In 2019, 15 percent of leading creative roles at OA are now taken by women. For instance, OA’s newly commissioned opera about Brett Whiteley features a score by Elena Kats-Chernin.

In this issue, read our feature about how Elena and librettist Justin Fleming have set about putting the life of the enfant terrible of Australian art on stage. We also interview superstar Lang Lang in New York ahead of his Australian concerts, as well as our own piano whiz Jayson Gillham who is readying himself to play all of Beethoven’s piano concertos in Adelaide. And in the wake of the terrible Notre Dame fire, Paris-based writer Mélissa Lesnie explores the iconic cathedral’s rich musical history.