State Opera South Australia. 15 Apr 2025
There is a paradigm shift underway at State Opera, and its exciting. With an unshakeable and strongly held belief that opera is a living, breathing artform that can be as contemporary as the leader on today’s news bulletin, Artistic Director Dane Lam and Chief Executive Mark Taylor are hell bent on reviving the days when State Opera SA was at the cutting edge of opera. We are a small state, and the company is modest in size, but the very same company brought us the Philip Glass Trilogy of so-called ‘portrait operas’ and the first Ring Cycle in the southern hemisphere. That’s well and truly punching above one’s weight, and South Australia has a strong tradition of doing just that across an eclectic range of human endeavour. Think Fringe Festival, LIV golf, Adelaide Festival, AFL Gather Round, Chihuly's Garden Cycle exhibition. The list goes on.
So, what do Lam and Taylor have in mind? Lam said at the launch of State Opera’s 2025 season that the season will “boldly commence with Jonathon Dove’s modern masterpiece Flight and it will set the tone for what’s to come.”
Lam and Taylor said that negotiations are being finalised for the remainder of the season, which will be unveiled later this month, and hinted at “beloved titles reimagined through a fresh cultural lens, alongside new works that reflect Australia’s place in a globally connected operatic landscape.”
Lam stressed that at the heart of his artistic vision is “removing barriers that separates people from this artform.” Lam adds this means continuing to present compelling stories about love, jealousy, comedy, revenge and letting them breathe in today’s world.
“This might mean updating the setting, collaborating with artists from across the Asia-Pacific, or simply trusting the raw power of the music and voices to do their work, and always having subtitles!”
Taylor pointed to the recent stratospheric success of the opera Innocence in the recent Adelaide Festival. It was sung in multiple languages, so subtitles were essential, and even though it focussed on an almost unbearably sad story, the production was compelling and appealed equally to the opera cognoscenti as well as the newbies.
When asked about when State Opera intends to announce its program, Taylor was quick to acknowledge that the company needs to return to the days of announcing its full program with plenty of notice to allow audiences to plan their diaries. He and Lam are feverishly working towards that outcome.
Lam currently serves as Artistic Director of State Opera South Australia, Music & Artistic Director of the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra in China. He is a Juilliard graduate and protégé́ of the late Kurt Masur, and his career spans major opera houses and symphony halls across Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. Whether conducting Mahler in Xi’an, Mozart in Sydney, or championing new Pacific Rim voices in Honolulu, Lam leads with passion, precision, and purpose. His experience in working across borders is proven. He and Taylor represent a generational shift in operatic leadership in Australia, so hold on, it’s going to be an interesting ride, and it kicks off with Flight that opens at her Majesty’s Theatre on 8 May for a limited run, so book early!
Kym Clayton
