Opera Australia turns 70 in 2026, and it’s celebrating the milestone with a season honouring the company’s legacy and its future.

Across flagship venues in Sydney and Melbourne, the national opera company will present new works, beloved revivals and gala events – an ambitious year of programming forged, notably, without an Artistic Director at the helm for the past 12 months.

The recruitment process is ongoing at the time of OA’s 2026 season launch but the absence of a singular guiding hand hasn’t dulled the company’s sense of direction, insists acting CEO Simon Militano, who is quick to stress that the upcoming season is the result of “a real team effort”.

“A lot of the people at Opera Australia have been here a long time,” Militano tells Limelight. “They’ve learned from some of the great artistic leaders we’ve had over the years, and we were able to bring all that institutional knowledge into play. And because it’s our 70th anniversary, we also looked at some of the best productions we’ve ever staged and thought, let’s bring...