
“It was impossible not to be swept away…Naamat’s staging, strong in its narrative clarity, had an understated brilliance.”
The Guardian
BIOGRAPHY
Opera Director, Noa Naamat is fast becoming one of the fresh and exciting voices to emerge 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 cutting edge vision, vivid imagery and bringing to life original and captivating interpretations.
Her recent directing credits include Henze’s Phaedra (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Benvenuto Cellini (Royal Opera of Versailles, Berliner Festspiele and Royal Albert Hall), Don Pasquale, L'elisir d’amore and Don Giovanni (Arezzo Opera Festival), Il matrimonio segreto (Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music), 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). Additionally, she has staged assorted opera scenes productions for Clonter Opera, Royal Academy of Music and a variety of opera festivals in Tuscany. 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, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music. Noa has also worked extensively as an assistant and staff director for the Wiener Staatsoper, Scottish Opera, The Israeli Opera, Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar, Royal Opera House and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
Among the awards and honors 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.
“With international rising star Noa Naamat in charge of stage direction, the drama proceeded at just the right pace, forward-driving and funny without lapsing into zaniness”.
Cleveland Classical
RÉSUMÉ
DIRECTING CREDITS
2021
Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor
Staatsoperette Dresden
2020
Opera Scenes
Royal Academy of Music
2019
Phaedra
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
2019
Benvenuto Cellini
Royal Opera of Versailles, Berliner Festspiele, Royal Albert Hall
2019
The Young Artists Summer Performance
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
2019
Opera Scenes
Clonter Opera
2019
A Different Story
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
2018
The Young Artists Summer Performance
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
2018
Il matrimonio segreto
Conservatory of Music, Baldwin Wallace
2017
La Voix Humaine
Studiotheater Schloss Belvedere Weimar
2016
Let The Bitch Burn
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
2016
Prima la musica e poi le parole
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
2016
The Merchant of Venice (Scenes)
Shakespeare's Globe
2015
Don Pasquale
Arezzo Opera Festival
2015
L'elisir d'amore
Arezzo Opera Festival
2015
Don Giovanni
Arezzo Opera Festival
2015
Opera Scenes
Accademia Europea dell'Opera
2014
Opera Scenes
Fubbiano Wine Festival
2014
Opera Scenes
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
SELECTED ASSISTANT DIRECTOR CREDITS
2019
Don Pasquale
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Dir. Damiano Michieletto)
2019
La Forza del Destino
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Dir. Christof Loy)
2018
Hänsel und Gretel
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Dir. Antony McDonald)
2017
Nabucco
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Dir. Federico Grazzini)
2017
Lulu
Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar (Dir. Elisabeth Stöppler)
2016
L’italiana In Algeri
Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar (Dir. Tobias Kratzer)
DIRECTING RESIDENCIES
2017-2019
Stage Director - Jette Parker Young Artist
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
2016
Directing Residency
Shakespeare's Globe
2015, 2016
Apprentice Director
Lyric Opera Studio Weimar
2014, 2015
Apprentice Stage Director
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
2014, 2015
Stage Director Fellowship
Accademia Europea dell’Opera
EDUCATION
2015-2016
MA in Directing
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
2014-2015
German Intensive Course
DeutschAkademie Wien
2013-2014
Italian & History of Opera Studies
Accademia Europea di Firenze
2012-2013
Cert.HE Theatre Practice
Royal Central School of Speech & Drama
AWARDS & HONOURS
2020
Oper! Awards - Winner
'Best Opera Recording' (Benvenuto Cellini DVD)
2020
Olivier Award - Nomination
'Outstanding Achievement in Opera' (Phaedra, ROH)
2018
National Opera Association - Winner
Opera Production Competition (Il Matrimonio Segreto, BWU)
2018
Bayreuth Bursary Award
The Wagner Society in London
2014, 2015
Stage Director Fellowship
Accademia Europea dell'Opera
LANGUAGES
Hebrew
Native
English
Fluent
Italian
Fluent
German
Proficient