Unresolvable conflict between Opera Australia’s executive management and the company’s artistic director, Jo Davies, has resulted in her departure just nine months into the job.
Although the announcement of Davies’ departure appeared out of the blue on Friday, sources within the company told Guardian Australia that the personal conflict between Davies and OA’s chief executive, Fiona Allan, resulted in a third party being called in to mediate between the two earlier this year.
Ultimately the board came down on the side of Allan, with a statement issued by the company on Friday saying Davies’ departure was due to “differences of opinion about how Opera Australia should successfully balance artistic innovation, audience development and commercial imperatives moving forward”.
The chair of the OA board, Rod Sims, said that Davies’ contract was prematurely severed by mutual agreement, and the fact mediation had been attempted between Allan and Davies – which Sims described as a single session of “coaching” – was “not a relevant issue” to Friday’s announcement.
“There’s a whole range of issues here, and we just all sensibly came to the view that our views differ on these, and so it was best to part ways, in everybody’s interest,” he said. “While it seems abrupt from the outside … the discussions have been going on for some time.”
Davies’ departure is the third high-profile and premature resignation by a female artistic director leading a flagship cultural organisation just this month.
In early August, Queensland Ballet’s Leanne Benjamin quit just a few months into the job, citing funding restraints. That same week, Adelaide festival’s Ruth Mackenzie abruptly resigned midway through her three-year contract.
Guardian Australia understands disagreements over the use of Australian artists in OA productions – with Welsh-born Davies keen to use her experience to attract more overseas singers – and her absence during crucial programming decision-making, were sources of dissatisfaction within the board.
In July, the board called for an independent review of artistic management and planning processes to inform future decisions on artistic management and roles. That review has yet to report its findings.
Davies told Guardian Australia that, in her nine months at the company, she had taken 10 days sick leave, 10 days annual leave, and attended the Opera Europa conference in Vienna and the World Opera Forum in Los Angeles, where she was a delegate. Both trips were approved by the board, she said.
“I can’t comment on mediation,” she added. “When you’ve got people that are passionate about the art form and the sector, each expressing your own opinion … there were differences of opinion … there was a lot of compromise.”
Davies declined to comment on whether she felt the board had failed to support her artistic vision for the company, or whether the board had asked for her resignation.
“In my opinion the artistic director needs to know that they can hold the responsibility of the artistic identity of a company,” she said.
“Particularly at the moment, when the sector is just so challenged, you have to know that in steering your way out of those challenges and fulfilling your cultural responsibility, that you’re really aligned on that balance between artistic innovation and commercial imperatives. And I think that’s the key. We weren’t aligned on those points.”
OA posted a $4.9m operating loss for the 2023 season, almost double the loss incurred in 2022 as the company reeled from the fallout of Covid-19, when it was thrown a $21m lifeline by state and federal governments.
Sims said the company expected to post another operating loss for 2024.
“Obviously any artistic director wants free rein to spend whatever they want and do whatever they want, and that must also always goes through a financial filter, in any arts company,” he said.
“But it all must come together in what’s the financial outcome for the company, because you’ve got to be a self-sustaining company, particularly when 70% of your revenue comes from the box office.”
One source who asked to remain anonymous told the Guardian that they felt Davies was “hopelessly out of her depth”.
“Opera Australia needs an artistic leader who understands intimately the art form as it is practised in this part of the world,” they added.
Responding to that comment, Davies said it was “always part of the understanding” that it would take time for her “to get to know a new cultural landscape”.
“But I don’t feel that at all. I certainly would refute that,” she said.
Davies was scheduled to direct just one OA production in 2025, the musical Guys and Dolls. She conceded an artistic director being engaged to direct just one production in a 12-month season was “unusual”, but said she was satisfied this decision had opened up opportunities for Australian directors.
Guardian Australia has requested comment from Allan, who paid tribute to Davies in a written statement on Friday.
“Jo’s engagement of three young directors for the three short operas that comprise Il Trittico was a brilliant idea and demonstrated huge commitment to the next generation of Australian talent,” Allan said, adding that Davies’ staging of Tosca at the Margaret Court Arena was “a milestone achievement for OA”.
The 2025 season, to be announced on 17 September, will demonstrate Davies’ “unwavering commitment to ensuring the relevance of our art form for today’s audiences”, Allan said.
