Festival director Pierre Audi of Aix-en-Provence's Lyrical Art Festival has passed away.
Reborn from London's Gritty Core: The remarkably Impactful Life of Pierre Audi
Farewell, Pierre Audi, a luminary of the global opera and lyrical art scene, who, at 67, bid adieu on May 3, 2025, in Beijing, as announced by the Aix-en-Provence Festival and the Ministry of Culture.
"The Aix-en-Provence Festival family mourns the sudden loss of Pierre Audi, a man who breathed life into the world of artistic creation," the team expressed in their somber statement. "Pierre Audi dedicated his life to artistic innovation," expressed the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, on Twitter.
In 2019, the Lebanese-British French-speaking maestro took the helm as general director of the Aix-en-Provence Festival, an prestigious position at one of the world's largest international lyrical art events[1]. He was reappointed to this role in late 2021 for a term until 2027. In the early 1980s, Audi catapulted onto the global stage by founding the Almeida Theatre in a dilapidated London building, miraculously transforming it into a hotbed of artistic ingenuity.
** further Reading: In Aix-en-Provence, a lyrical festival with daring propositions, but shy on powerhouse voices**
An Exceptional Artistic Journey
"When I opened the Almeida Theatre in 1980, it was in response to a certain type of English theatre," he stated in a 2022 interview on the Festival d'Aix website. Afterward, he became the artistic director of the Dutch National Opera, where he created most of his stage productions, collaborating with visual artists such as Georg Baselitz and Anish Kapoor[1]. He remained at this post for nearly thirty years.
In 2015, he voyaged to New York, taking on the role of artistic director at the Park Avenue Armory, a multidisciplinary space encompassing about 5,000 square meters[1]. This venue accommodates installations like Christian Boltanski's in 2010 and monumental stage productions by Ivo van Hove or Ariane Mnouchkine[1]. "It would have been impossible to show them in a conventional hall," he explained in 2022.
He directed the creation of L'Apocalypse arabe by Samir Odeh-Tamimi at the Festival d'Aix in 2021 and was set to stage Tosca by Puccini at the Paris Opera later that year.
"He ardently believed in the future of lyrical art (and musical theatre), an art form he felt was uniquely capable of weathering all crises," added the organizers of the Festival d'Aix.
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[1] Artsy Editors. "Pierre Audi, the acclaimed stage director known for galvanizing the Dutch National Opera and Park Avenue Armory, has died at 67." Artsy, 3 May 2025, https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-pierre-audi- dies-67-stage-director-dutch-national-opera-park-avenue-armory
[5] What's On Stage Staff. "Park Avenue Armory, New York." Whats On Stage, 3 May 2025, https://www.whatsonstage.com/ Theatre/park-avenue-armory-new-york-52709.html
Rachida Dati, the Minister of Culture, expressed her condolences on Twitter, stating, "Pierre Audi dedicated his life to artistic innovation."
In 2019, Pierre Audi staged L'Apocalypse arabe by Samir Odeh-Tamimi at the Festival d'Aix, a multidisciplinary event.
At the Park Avenue Armory, a multidisciplinary space in New York, Audi directed installations and monumental stage productions, such as Christian Boltanski's and those by Ivo van Hove or Ariane Mnouchkine.
