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Photo by Erwin Olaf

Pierre Audi

  • Opera maker
  • Director
  • Theatre director

Pierre Audi (born 1957) is an opera and theatre director who has had a significant influence on opera in the Netherlands. As artistic director of De Nationale Opera, he has revitalised opera there and made the Netherlands an international leader in this art. He has also built an international career as an opera director. 

Originally French-Lebanese, Audi studied history at Oxford and founded the Almeida Theatre in the London borough of Islington at a young age. From 1988 to 2018, he served as artistic director of De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam. He established his reputation directing the Monteverdi and Mozart opera cycles. He also directed a very high-profile production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, then being performed in the Netherlands for the first time.  

Audi is a staunch champion of more contemporary opera and has sought collaborations with such artists as Jannis Kounellis, Georg Baselitz and Anish Kapoor for his productions. From 2005 to 2014, Audi was also artistic director of the Holland Festival, where he put together experimental and adventurous programmes featuring all the artistic disciplines. 

Pierre Audi has received numerous awards in the Netherlands and abroad, including a distinction in the Legion d'Honneur. He was the first winner of the Johannes Vermeer Prize, which has been awarded annually since 2009.