Opera Director Noa Naamat is quickly establishing herself as one of the most exciting and fresh voices on the international opera scene. A native Israeli, she has worked across the UK, Europe, America, and Asia on a vast range of productions, from mainstream repertoire to world premieres. She is noted for her innovative vision, compelling storytelling, and bringing to life original and captivating interpretations.
Her directing credits include The Rape of Lucretia, Orfeo ed Euridice (Royal Danish Opera), Henze’s Phaedra (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (Staatsoperette Dresden), La Bohème (Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater), Benvenuto Cellini (Royal Opera of Versailles), La Traviata (Alden Biesen Opera Festival), Le nozze di Figaro (Helsinki Music Centre), Suor Angelica (Copenhagen Opera Festival), Don Pasquale, L'elisir d’amore (Arezzo Opera Festival), Così fan tutte (Diva Opera), Il matrimonio segreto (Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music), Don Giovanni (Saluzzo Opera Academy), La voix humaine (Studiotheater Schloss Belvedere Weimar), Salieri’s Prima la musica e poi le parole (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) and the world premiere of A Different Story (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden).
Noa became the youngest director ever accepted to the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She made her house debut directing the Young Artists Summer Performance on the main stage.
Photo by Johan Persson, Royal Opera House
Before completing her MA in Directing at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Noa studied Theatre Practice at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, as well as Italian and History of Opera at the Accademia Europea di Firenze. She was the Apprentice Director at Lyric Opera Studio Weimar and at Oberlin’s Summer Opera Program in Italy. Supplementing her operatic work, she also held a directing residency at Shakespeare’s Globe, where she staged scenes from The Merchant of Venice on The Globe stage.
Noa is dedicated to the development and training of young talents and has delivered classes and workshops for the Royal Opera House, Mascarade Opera Studio Firenze, Royal Academy of Music, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music, Clonter Opera, and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Noa has also worked extensively as an assistant and staff director for international opera houses such as Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, Scottish Opera, The Israeli Opera, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
Among the awards and honours Noa has received for her work, her production of Benvenuto Cellini, in which she collaborated with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, won the Oper! Awards for 'Best Opera Recording'. Her production of Il matrimonio segreto was a winner of the National Opera Association's Opera Production Competition. Noa has also been named the distinguished Bayreuth Bursary from The Wagner Society and was the recipient of the Accademia Europea dell'Opera Stage Director Fellowship. Her production of Henze’s Phaedra at the Royal Opera House was nominated for an Olivier Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Opera’.
