Three ways to be heard by the people who shape vocal careers

Sir David Pountney CBE is one of the most influential opera directors of his generation, celebrated for his theatrical imagination and his leadership of major opera houses and festivals. He first came to international prominence with Katya Kabanova at the Wexford Festival in 1972, then served as Director of Productions at Scottish Opera (1975-80) and, from 1980, at English National Opera, where he directed more than 20 productions and helped position ENO as a centre of theatrical innovation.

He has directed more than 20 world premieres, including three operas by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies for which he also wrote the libretti, and continues to work as a librettist and translator from Russian, Czech, German and Italian. From 2011 to 2019 he was Artistic Director of Welsh National Opera, and from 2003 to 2013 he was Intendant of the Bregenz Festival.

In the 2025-26 season he directs the world premiere of Elżbieta Sikora's Dorian Gray at the Poznań Opera House and John Tavener's Krishna at Grange Park Opera, continuing a career defined by new work and bold reinterpretation of the repertoire.

British soprano Susan Bullock is internationally acclaimed for her fearless stagecraft and the emotional truth she brings to performance, ranking among the leading dramatic sopranos of her generation. A celebrated interpreter of Wagner's Brünnhilde, she made history as the first soprano to sing four consecutive Ring cycles at the Royal Opera House, under Sir Antonio Pappano.

Her Strauss's Elektra, another signature role, has taken her to major houses worldwide, including her debut at the Metropolitan Opera. Recent seasons have brought striking character roles, such as Kabanicha in Káťa Kabanová at Grange Park Opera and Klytämnestra in Elektra for Canadian Opera Company and Oper Frankfurt, alongside contemporary work including Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd and roles created for her by composer Missy Mazzoli.

Beyond opera, she has appeared at the Last Night of the BBC Proms and the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, and is a committed mentor to young singers at the National Opera Studio and in masterclasses across the UK.

Dieter Kaegi is a Swiss opera director and artistic leader, born in Zurich in 1957. He began his career as assistant to French stage director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle before serving as Artistic Director of Opera Ireland in Dublin (1998-2010); he continues to lead its summer festival and is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival in Ireland.

Since 2012/13 he has been Intendant / General Director of Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn (TOBS) in Switzerland, overseeing artistic direction and institutional strategy for the opera and orchestra company. His directing career spans well over 100 productions across Europe, the Americas and Asia, for houses including English National Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the Salzburg Festival and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

In recognition of his contribution to opera, Kaegi was appointed Cavaliere of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2008.

Tobias Hasan has served as Artistic Director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin since 2013. Before this appointment, he was Casting Director and Senior Booker at the Hamburg State Opera.

After vocal studies at the University Mozarteum Salzburg, he joined the Salzburg Festival and went on to work in the press departments of the international record labels Teldec, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and EMI Classics.

He is a frequent jury member at major international competitions, including the Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition in Barcelona, Plácido Domingo's Operalia, the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg and the Moniuszko Competition in Warsaw, and works in close artistic collaboration with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Christian Thielemann and Sir Simon Rattle.

Paul McNamara is an Irish tenor whose career has taken him to many of Europe's leading opera houses and concert halls, as well as major stages in North and South America, Africa and Asia. He made his Venice debut at Teatro La Fenice in the title role of Wagner's Tannhäuser under Omer Meir Wellber, and has sung at venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall.

Alongside his performing career, McNamara is Artistic Leader of the Dutch National Opera Academy (DNOA), a joint master's programme of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Royal Conservatoire The Hague that trains emerging opera singers over a two-year curriculum. He also serves as casting director for the AVROTROS concert series.

Damià Carbonell Nicolau studied Piano and Music Theory at the Conservatory in Barcelona, followed by Cultural Management and Music Business Management at Pompeu Fabra University. He began his career in 2004 as coordinator of cultural activities at the Friends of the Liceu Foundation.

In 2006 he joined the department of Artistic Affairs at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, where he was appointed deputy artistic director in 2011. From November 2013 to January 2019 he worked as deputy artistic director at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and he now serves as Head of Artistic Affairs at Dutch National Opera.

Natascha Ursuliak discovered her love for opera at an early age, singing for years in the children's choir of the Stuttgart State Opera before studying voice with the aim of becoming an opera singer - a path that brought her into contact with opera directing. From 2001 to 2008 she worked as an assistant and stage manager at the Bavarian State Opera, collaborating with directors including Peter Mussbach, Peter Konwitschny, Achim Freyer and David Alden.

From 2005 she directed productions for opera houses including Leipzig, Wrocław, Theater St. Gallen, Landestheater Coburg, the Bavarian State Opera and Zurich. For the past seven years she has worked at Zurich Opera House, first as deputy opera director and casting manager, and since summer 2025 as Head of Production and Casting.

Born in Cologne, Susanne Schmidt studied musicology and foreign languages before business training, and began her career in the Artists & Repertoire sector of the recording industry in New York, Hamburg and London.

She spent fifteen years as Opera Director of the Bregenz Festival, working closely with artistic directors and creative teams to cast singers for the landmark productions on the lake stage, before moving to Teatro La Fenice in Venice as Head of Casting and Artistic Administration.

Since the 2021/22 season, Schmidt has been Casting Director of Opera Vlaanderen in Antwerp and Ghent, and she continues to advise the Bregenz Festival as Casting Consultant.

Bass Peter Rose is a regular guest at the world's most important opera houses, including The Royal Opera Covent Garden, The Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Oper and Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, the Salzburger Festspiele and Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

He has won particular acclaim for his performances of Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier, sung in Aix-en-Provence, Paris, London, Rome, at his Metropolitan Opera debut and for Glyndebourne. In recognition of his many celebrated performances at the Wiener Staatsoper, he was awarded the title of Kammersänger in 2020.

A prolific concert artist, he has sung under conductors including Sir Colin Davis, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta and Sir Georg Solti, and is a passionate advocate for young musicians, frequently participating in masterclasses and mentorship programs.