FUTURE DIRECTIONS

MICHAEL MCCARTHY DIRECTOR

Studied Music at Birmingham University and Postgraduate Theatre Studies at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff University. I co-founded Cardiff New Opera Group with Michael Rafferty in 1982 and this led to the creation of Music Theatre Wales in 1988. Alongside MTW, from 1998-2012 I was Artistic Director of Operatoriet - the contemporary opera studio for Norway, and from 2007 – 2012 I was Dramaturg for FIVE:15 - Operas Made in Scotland for Scottish Opera. In 2012 I led the Opera Creation Academy at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. In the 1980s I was revival director for The Fires of London, the company led by Peter Maxwell Davies.

I have directed over 40 contemporary operas, including almost all of MTW’s productions. Other productions include large-scale outdoor stagings of Tosca and Nabucco, and productions of La Traviata, Cosi fan Tutte, Il Re Pastore, Fidelio and Don Giovanni. Also, Cinderella by Peter Maxwell Davies for WNO and S4C Television, The Lighthouse for BBC2 TV, The Forbidden Hymn - a community opera in the South Wales Valleys and The Feast of the Pheasant for Glasgow 1990.

I was awarded Best Director at the Wales Theatre Awards for my world premiere production of The Trial by Philip Glass in a co-production by MTW and the Royal Opera House. My production of Greek won Outstanding Achievement in Opera at the TMA Awards. I was awarded an MBE in 2016.

ELAYCE ISMAIL ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE

I grew up on the Isle of Wight and in London, where I’m now based, and work throughout the UK and internationally as a freelance theatre and opera director, and dramaturg. Alongside freelancing, I have also been Associate Director at Northern Stage in Newcastle, Resident Director at the National Theatre Studio, an Associate Artist of Boundless Theatre, and currently, Head of New Work (maternity cover) at the Donmar Warehouse.

I began my theatre career as an actor and producer, having studied French and Italian, and then Film at UCL. I later trained at LISPA on the post-graduate ‘Creating Theatre and Performance’ course, which follows a Jacques Lecoq pedagogy rooted in devising and ensemble theatre-making. This has hugely influenced the way I make my work, which is collaborative, ensemble-driven and interdisciplinary – spanning text, performance, puppetry, movement, film and music.

I’m really excited to join MTW as the Artistic Associate leading on New Directions as it is a wonderful chance to work with a wide range of artists, and think imaginatively about the future of opera.

Åsa Malmsten General Manager/Producer

Åsa is an experienced Producer and Project Manager, having worked in a range of settings and organisations since 2006. Åsa worked as Producer at Welsh National Opera 2006 – 2014 before stepping into the role of Director of Sound Sense 2016 – 2020. In a freelance capacity, Åsa has worked for a range of organisations, most recently as Project Manager at Anthem, Music Fund Wales, and Producer at Tŷ Cerdd and Monmouthshire County Council. Previously she has produced work for Paraorchestra & Friends in Bristol, and Longborough Opera.

Åsa is a coach and facilitator, accredited to ACC Standard with the International Coach Federation, and business owner of Coach & Create Ltd. She joined Music Theatre Wales as General Manager/Producer in September 2022.

Rachel Kinchin Communications and Marketing Manager

Rachel has 20+ years’ experience working in the arts in many different roles. From working with emerging artists on a shoestring budget to being Head of Marketing at Assembly Festival at Edinburgh Fringe.

She is most interested in access, diversity, inclusion and in engaging marginalised people who might have historically not felt included in the arts. She is passionate about the positive impact being involved in the arts can have on people’s health and well-being. 

Rachel is working part-time for MTW as well as continuing her freelance work and is currently studying for a Master of Arts Practice: Arts, Health and Well-Being at The ATRiuM. 

Rachel is on the steering group of Ladies of Rage, a network of women and marginalised genders who work in Black and underrepresented music in Cardiff. In 2021 she created and became the Artistic Director of PWSH – a public art project which she created to celebrate difference and re-imagine public spaces.

Rachel, who is Cardiff born and bred, is very excited to join MTW at this time in their journey. 

Jefferson Lobo Music Creator Future Directions

Brazilian-born Jefferson Lobo is a musician, composer and producer living in Cardiff. He has been focusing on futuristic, nature-inspired jazz-funk grooves and is currently releasing new music regularly from his catalogue. Hauntingly sweet harmonies combined with soothing and (at times) witty melodies form the basis for his musical cauldron, which includes styles such as jazz, orchestral, Latin, reggae, futuristic, and world music. He has worked with the theatre company August 012 and with BBC Radio and has written, scored, and arranged music for Butetown Carnival 2020 and 2021, a particular highlight being his transatlantic piece Zamba, commissioned by Butetown Arts & Culture Association.

Robert Fokkens Music Creator Future Directions

Robert Fokkens is a South African composer based in the UK. His work explores a range of influences from traditional South African music to 20th- and 21st-century experimental music, via jazz, electronic dance music and the classical canon. In past seasons, Robert’s work has been performed in major venues in the UK (including the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and Royal Festival Hall), South Africa, Australia, the USA, Japan, and across Europe. His opera ‘Bhekizizwe’ will tour Wales this Autumn.

Jain Boon Project Facilitator and Workshop Leader

Jain Boon (she/her) is an award-winning Trauma Informed theatre professional with over 35 years of experience of co-producing theatre that places people’s experience of adversity and trauma centre stage with the aim of reducing stigma and isolation. She is passionate about the democratisation of mental health and wellbeing and believes that the arts create a space for connection and healing.

Jain is Co-artistic Director, alongside Matilda Tonkin Wells, of a new trauma informed dance theatre company called thisPLACE.

She trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where she now Tutors for the Young Actors Studio.

Jain has a background in theatre in education and community theatre and was Associate Director of Gwent Theatre, a company she worked with for 20 years.

As a freelancer, Jain has many years of experience leading on theatre and creative projects. She has worked with the Wales Millennium Centre, National Theatre Wales and National Youth Theatre Wales and continues to work with Music Theatre Wales, Re-live Theatre, Sparc Valleys Kids and Hijinx Theatre; she is a Creative Agent and trainer for Arts Council Wales’s Lead Creative Schools Scheme. She is also a trainer and consultant for the ACE Support Hub Wales.

In 2021, Jain was a judge for the Practising Well Awards for the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance and runs creative reflective practice sessions for WAHWN (Wales Arts Health and Well-being Network).

Jain is also a member of the steering group for Youth Arts Network Cymru.

Jain is an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and in 2019 she was included on the Pinc list of the Most Influential LGBT+ People in Wales.

She is currently training as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. SE is a pioneering body-oriented approach to the resolution and healing of trauma.

Mae hi’n dysgu Cymraeg.

Lleucu Meinir Future Directions: Filmmaker

Photographer, filmmaker and activist for change through the arts. After 15 years in the broadcast industry, Lleucu moved back to west Wales with a young family. She’s been working as a portrait photographer and a freelance filmmaker. Since moving to Llandysul, Ceredigion, in 2017 she has been an active agent for change in her local community helping to plant a church (Ffynnon), establishing a food bank with local Christians and developing Plethu, which is a community arts movement with its focus on Welsh culture, well-being and mental health. She’s a mother to four gorgeous children, one dog, two cats and four chickens.

Gavin Porter Filmmaker

Gavin Porter is a film/documentary/theatre maker from Butetown in Cardiff. Most recently Gavin directed a ‘live-documentary’ called Circle of Fifths which explores the connection between grief, loss and music. Previously, Gavin created a participatory theatre project called The Big Democracy Project with National Theatre Wales, working across Wales and ending in a ‘festival of democracy’ at the Senedd.

Gavin is a Clore Fellow and has won a BAFTA Cymru as director of best short.

Lio Evans Opera Singer & Vocal Animateur

Award-winning Welsh soprano Llio Evans has performed roles for English National Opera, Garsington Opera, Opera Holland Park, Longborough Festival Opera, English Touring Opera, Music Theatre Wales, Opera Della Luna and Charles Court Opera. Llio is an accomplished recitalist and concert artist and has appeared on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and S4C. A British Youth Opera and Welsh National Youth Opera alumna and a former Alvarez Young Artist at Garsington Opera (where she won the Leonard Ingrams Award in 2015), Llio trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Wales International Academy of Voice with Dennis O’Neill.

During lockdown Llio wrote parodies (in English and Welsh), translations of songs and original material for the National Eisteddfod, Noson Lawen, Gŵyl Gerdd Dant and Charles Court Opera. She is currently the president of the Brecon and District Male Voice Choir

Mari Mathias Music Creator

Mari Mathias grew up in the rural village of Talgarreg, a stone’s throw from the Ceredigion coastline. She is now based in Cardiff after graduating with a BA in Performing Arts at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and recently graduated with a Masters in Songwriting and Performance at the University of South Wales, Cardiff.

Mari performs in her native Welsh tongue and puts her own contemporary take on traditional folk melodies from west Wales and Pembrokeshire. She brings a surging energy on stage, marrying intimate moments of storytelling and exhilarating folk sounds. Her music creates a confident step forward over the postmodern footprints that extends through past and present, exploring a re-imaged reminder of identity.

Her Debut Album ‘Annwn’ was released in March 2022, inspired by the tales and tunes from old Wales, creating a window into a significant place that no longer exists but holds vast meaning. Her exciting sound is described as Alternative-Folk – a great description of a nation that’s confidently re-defining itself.

Mari is currently working alongside scriptwriter Christopher Harris as a Musical Director and Sound Designer for a Research & Development Project ‘Trwbwl Mawr yn Tremyglyd’, a new Welsh Theatre Production with Blackwood Miners Institute. Her recent project has been working on a new Theatre Production with north Wales based company Theatr Bara Caws, composing an original soundtrack for an exciting new two-hander ‘Cariad yn oes y gin’ which is touring this March.

“I’m very excited to work with Music Theatre Wales on the Future Directions programme and celebrate creativity whilst exploring the possibilities of creating a new digital opera. I look forward to supporting young people from all backgrounds with storytelling and music making workshops.”