Julien Benhamou is Director of Artistic Administration at the Aix-en-Provence Festival  where he oversees the planning and casting of future seasons, the Academy of the Festival and its Mediterranean Youth Orchestra. He also serves as Casting Consultant for the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Born in Paris, combining his studies in cultural industries management (Master in Management-Grande Ecole, ESCP Europe) and his passion for opera and classical singing, he started his career in artist management, working for many high profile singers and conductors at agencies such as Askonas Holt, London. He then served as Artistic Advisor for the Paris-based recital series l’Instant Lyrique, and as Director of Artistic Coordination and Casting at Opéra national de Bordeaux.

He also contributes to the development of the Voice Academy of the Treilles Foundation, and is frequently invited as a judge for international vocal competitions.

Paul Hopper serves as Associate Artistic Administrator at The Metropolitan Opera where he oversees the casting of secondary roles and covers for all productions. Previously, he was the Assistant Artistic Director at Houston Grand Opera where he assisted in long term artistic planning and casting, managed special artistic initiatives, and guided a variety of audiences in learning more about opera, including numerous events in support of the company’s first Ring Cycle. As principal dramaturg for the company he worked closely with composers and librettists in the commissioning and development of new works. He regularly serves on the juries for various levels of vocal competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera’s Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, the Queen Sonja International Music Competition, and the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the University of Houston, he previously held positions at the Santa Fe Opera and ADA Artist Management.

Artistic Director of the Teatro Real de Madrid since the 2013-2014 season. Artistic Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona from 1997 to 2013. He was previously Assistant Artistic Director and director of the Dramatugy department of the same theater and he has also worked as a journalist, and opera, theater, music and dance critic in various publications. He studied, among others, Piano, Singing and Harmony at the Liceu Conservatory of Barcelona and Information Sciences at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He has been the founder and president of Opera Europa and he is part of juries of prestigious international, musical and lyrical competitions.

After completing his studies in Humanities and Political Science, Christian Schirm was in charge of the course at the Diplomatische Akademie in Vienna from 1982 to 1987.

Then he worked closely with Hugues Gall at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and later at the Opéra National de Paris, where he was in charge of the Palais Garnier and the Dramaturgy department. Gerard Mortier appointed him director of the Atelier Lyrique in 2004 and Stéphane Lissner artistic director of the Académie de l'Opéra de Paris in 2015.

An honours graduate and choral scholar from New College, Oxford, Toby Spence studied at the Opera School of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was the winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society 2011 Singer of the Year award.

In concert Toby has sung with some of the most renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestr, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has appeared as a guest soloist at the Easter Festival in Salzburg and the Edinburgh International Festival. He has worked with an impressive array of conductors such as Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Colin Davis, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gustavo Dudamel, Edward Gardner, Roger Norrington and Charles Mackerras.

Operatic highlights include Aschenbach/Death in Venice for Opéra National du Rhin, Captain Vere in Deborah Warner’s Billy Budd for Teatro Real, Opera di Roma and ROH, Anatol/Vanessa for Frankfurt Opera, Don Ottavio for the Liceu Barcelona, Eisenstein/Die Fledermaus and Antonio/The Tempest for the Metropolitan Opera, Tito, Tamino, Henry Morosus/Die Schweigsame Frau and Monsieur Taupe/Capriccio for the Bayerische Staatsoper, title role Parsifal for Opera North, Florestan/Fidelio for Garsington Opera and Opera North, Ghandi/Satyagraha at the English National Opera, Don Ottavio and Tito for the Wiener Staatsoper, Alwa/Lulu for La Monnaie, as well as Tom Rakewell and David/Die Meistersinger for Opéra de Paris. Toby’s longstanding relationship with ROH has seen him sing David/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tamino/Die Zauberflöte, Ferdinand/The Tempest, Count Almaviva/Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ramiro/La Cenerentola , Tom Rakewell/The Rake’s Progress, and Essex/Gloriana.

Operatic plans for 22/23 include role debuts as Alonso/The Tempest for Teatro alla Scala and Erik/Der Fliegende Holländer for Teatro la Fenice. On the concert platform Toby sings Das Lied von der Erde Orchestre de Lille cond. Alexandre Bloch, St Matthew Passion for the Gulbenkian Foundation, Britten’s War Requiem with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Bells with the Philharmonia Orchestra cond. Stanislav Kochanovsky, the Glagolitic Mass with the London Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Edward Gardner, and Bach Magnificat cond. Mena with the Cincinnati Symphony. Further ahead, Toby returns to the Wiener Staatsoper.