Stuart Maunder
Artistic Director, Director
Celebrated Australian opera and musical theatre director Stuart Maunder AM is the Artistic Director of Victorian Opera.
His past productions for Victorian Opera have included Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Cunning Little Vixen, English Eccentrics and La Rondine (The Swallow).
Beginning his career in stage management at the then Australian Opera, Maunder has a long history in opera, as a director and arts administrator. He served in senior management roles at Opera Australia from 1999 to 2008 before being appointed General Director of New Zealand Opera in 2014. He was appointed Artistic Director of State Opera South Australia in 2018. In his time at State Opera, Maunder has proved a passionate advocate for finding a distinctive Australian voice, championing Australian repertoire, developing the next generation of Australian artists while still pursuing a balanced repertoire designed to reach the widest possible audience.
His work as a director is highly revered and has ensured Maunder has remained a consistent presence on Australian stages for over three decades.
A frequent collaborator with Victorian Opera, Maunder has directed several popular productions including four musicals by Stephen Sondheim (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, A Little Night Music), Janacek’s Cunning Little Vixen and a co-production of Richard Meale’s Voss with State Opera South Australia. Maunder’s production of Sweeney Todd was co-produced with New Zealand Opera and toured New Zealand and Australia following its debut in 2015.
