RODULA GAITANOU
Stage Director
Stagecraft for Singers, The Musical Horizons Conservatory

Athens-born, Paris-trained, London-based opera director Rodula Gaitanou has directed critically acclaimed productions in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, France, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece, China, and Australia. 

Nominated “Director of the Year” in the 2019 International Opera Awards, Ms. Gaitanou’s work has been lauded internationally: her production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor for Opera Hedeland was nominated for “Best Opera Production” in the 2019 CPH Awards; her productions of Massenet’s Don Quichotte and Barber’s Vanessa for the Wexford Festival Opera were nominated, in 2020 and 2017 respectively, in the “Best Opera” category by the Irish Times Theatre Awards; and she was nominated for two Helpmann Awards in 2013 in the “Best Opera Director” and “Best Opera Production” categories for her production of Haydn’s L'isola disabitata at the Hobart Baroque Festival.

The range of repertoire for which Ms. Gaitianou has directed productions is vast and includes Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito at the Bergen National Opera; Massenet’s Don Quichotte, Barber’s Vanessa, Leoni’s L'oracolo and Giordano’s Mala vita at Wexford Festival Opera; Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera and La traviata and Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades at Opera Holland Park; Un ballo in Maschera at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater; Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera Hedeland; Rossini’s Guillaume Tell at Victorian Opera; Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at Göteborg Opera; Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci at Teatro Nacional São Carlos; Rossini’s La Cenerentola at Teatro Verdi di Trieste; Puccini’s Tosca at Xi'an Concert Hall in China; Mozart’s Così fan tutte and La Cenerentola at the Greek National Opera; Haydn’s L'isola disabitata and Schumann’s Dichterliebe at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden’s Linbury Theatre; Martinů’s Ariane and Alexandre bis and Stradella’s San Giovanni Battista and Thomas Arne’s The Cooper at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama; Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea, Holst’s Savitri and Smetana’s The Bartered Bride at British Youth Opera; Prokofiev’s Betrothal in a Monastery at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Scottish Opera; a new version of Bizet’s Carmen at London's King’s Head; a devised youth opera, Where is The Love, at the Arcola Theatre; and Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at Paris 8 Opera. She has also directed revivals of Royal Opera House, Covent Garden productions in London, Sydney, Gothenburg, and Valencia.

A former member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Ms. Gaitanou trained as a violinist at The Musical Horizons Conservatory in Athens, studied Musicology at La Sorbonne University in Paris and Opera Staging at Paris 8 - Saint Denis University, and joined the Laboratoire d'Etude du Mouvement of the prestigious International Theatre School Jacques Lecoq.