Jeannette Aster

Jeannette Aster (born in Linz, Austria) was brought up and educated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Trained initially as a classical dancer, she obtained her BMus in Voice Performance from McGill University before going on to study Opera Production at the London Opera Centre in London, England.

After serving 5 years as a staff director in such prestigious opera houses as the Netherlands Opera, Hamburg State Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Ms. Aster made her Canadian debut as stage director in 1977 at the National Arts Centre Festival in Ottawa with Mozart's "The Magic Flute" returning the following season to direct "Così fan tutte". She has since enjoyed an internationally recognized career in opera around the world. Her long association with the Canadian Opera Company led to the next important step in her career. Working with General Director, Lotfi Mansouri, she helped found the COC Ensemble (young Artist programme) and in 1980 became its first resident director. In 1986 at the invitation of Peter Hemmings, she joined the newly formed Los Angeles Opera as a founding Associate Director and resident stage director.

For 10 years, from 1988-1998 Jeannette Aster was the driving force behind the resurgence of opera in Canada's capital city as Artistic Director of Opera Lyra Ottawa. Under her visionary leadership, the company grew to become a dominant presence in the cultural life of Canada’s capital city and gained national recognition for fostering and promoting Canadian artists. In addition to presenting critically acclaimed mainstage opera productions at the National Arts Centre, Ms Aster commissioned 3 new operas and instituted a fully comprehensive training programme which included a Boys Choir, Teen Chorus and Associate Artist Studio, as well as innovative community based education projects for both adults and young people.

Since 1999 Ms Aster has been Artistic Consultant and Director of Productions for EUROSTAGE, an innovative private sector opera producer based in Amsterdam, Holland, which develops new opera productions in collaboration with the State Operas in Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Russia for touring throughout Western Europe. Her productions of "Madama Butterfly", "Don Giovanni", and "Rigoletto", and most recently "Lucia di Lammermoor", have been presented in theatres in Holland, France, Germany, Switzerland and England A new "La traviata" is scheduled for 2007.

Jeannette Aster continues to work internationally as an opera consultant and free-lance stage director. Of particular note have been Ms. Aster’s memorable productions of Verdi's "Falstaff" in Los Angeles, a critically acclaimed revival of "Otello" with Plácido Domingo in both Los Angeles and Houston after which Mr. Domingo invited her to direct this opera in Puerto Rico as well. . Her staging of "Tristan und Isolde", designed by David Hockney at the Maggio Musicale in Florence won the 1990 International Critics Prize. Other international engagements have included the European Premiere of Sir Michael Tippett's "New Year at Glyndebourne and a revival of "Káťa Kabanová" in Paris. Her production of "Salome" has been seen at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Detroit, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. This production was also featured in the prestigious Hong Kong Arts Festival. Ms Aster made her New Zealand debut with a new production of "The Marriage of Figaro" and subsequently returned to direct "La bohème" and "Les contes d'Hoffmann".

Her 2006 2007 season includes new productions of "Così fan tutte" in France and Berlin, "Salome" in Cleveland, "La traviata" in the newly renovated historic state opera house of Kazan, Russia and an exciting Shanghai opera debut with Mozart’s "The Magic Flute".

Throughout her career, Jeannette Aster has been involved in the development of young talent. She regularly offers masterclasses in operatic role study and dramatic interpretation around the world in such prestigious institutions as the Hoch Schule fur Kunst in Berlin, University of Toronto Opera School, International Opera Centre in Amsterdam, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Utrecht School of the Arts, National, at CNIPAL, the national singers' training centre in Marseilles France, Conservatoire de Dijon and Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She also sits on the juries of several international voice competitions including Voix Nouvelles and the Marmande International concours (France) ,Vervier ( Belgium), Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques ( Canada ) and the Canadian eliminations for the Belvedere, Marmande, and Czech singing competitions.

After over 30 years in working in opera, Jeannette Aster is currently General Director of La Roche D'Hys - Domaine des Arts , an International Centre for Cultural Encounters in Burgundy, France. The Centre was created as an international professional development centre to host special projects which stimulate creative thinking and offer a forum for the exchange of ideas. Programmes include workshops, masterclasses, seminars conferences, artists retreats, in all the arts disciplines as well as the presentation of concerts, theatrical and literary events. [www.larochedhys.com]