Carriageworks, Sydney Chamber Opera and Opera Australia, are proud to present the world premiere of Gilgamesh, the first opera in English based on humanity’s oldest written epic poem, at Carriageworks from 26 September to 5 October.
About Gilgamesh
The opera tells the story of a restless king whose journey through love and loss transforms him into a wiser person, enhanced by his mystical encounters.
Composed by Sydney Chamber Opera’s Artistic Director Jack Symonds, with a libretto by Louis Garrick, this opera is a groundbreaking interpretation that blends ancient myth with contemporary operatic artistry to dazzling effect. Brought to Carriageworks’ vast performance space by visionary director Kip Williams, famed for his innovative and critically acclaimed productions at Sydney Theatre Company.
The opera promises a visually and sonically stunning experience, with the acclaimed creative team including set designer Elizabeth Gadsby, costume designer David Fleischer, lighting designer Amelia Lever-Davidson, and sound designers Benjamin Carey and Bob Scott.
The opera features an outstanding cast of Australian contemporary opera specialists. Helpmann-Award winner Jeremy Kleeman embodies the titular role and is joined by SCO Artistic Associates Mitchell Riley and Jane Sheldon, alongside Co-Artistic Director of The Song Company Jessica O’Donoghue and Daniel Szesiong Todd.
Meet the Creatives behind Gilgamesh
Jack Symonds
Composer & Conductor
Jack Symonds is an acclaimed Australian composer, conductor, and pianist, and the Artistic Director of Sydney Chamber Opera. Jack is a graduate of the Royal College of Music in London and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. His stage works include SCO’s Owen Wingrave, The Rape of Lucretia and Notes from Underground, which was praised as “a striking and impressive new operatic voice” (Sydney Morning Herald). Jack has premiered significant compositions at festivals the Adelaide Festival and Dark MOFO and has collaborated with renowned ensembles such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra and JACK Quartet.
“In striving to realise this extraordinary, strikingly modern story in all its fantastical, passionate glory I have drawn upon everything I know as a composer, as well as all my experience as a performer and conductor of contemporary opera. Gilgamesh is SCO at its most ambitious, characteristic and extreme and I can’t wait to share it with audiences.”
Louis Garrick
Libretto
Louis studied musicology at Sydney University. In 2010, Louis co-founded Sydney Chamber Opera, where he was the artistic director until 2015, during which time SCO was rapidly established as an important and distinctive voice in the Australian music and theatre landscapes. Louis was also the curator of new music at Carriageworks between 2012 and 2015. He is now based in Berlin.
Kip Williams
Director
Kip Williams is a multi-award-winning director of theatre, opera, and film. Kip is renowned for his visionary direction of productions such as The Picture of Dorian Gray, which received critical acclaim in it’s West End run and is now set to make its way to Broadway. Kip is a graduate of NIDA and Sydney University and has received the Helpmann Award for ‘Best Direction of a Play’ and the Sydney Theatre Award for ‘Best Director’. Appointed as STC’s Artistic Director in 2016, Kip is the youngest person to hold the position in the company’s history.
“In conceiving this opera, the design team and I have sought to foreground the human body as the central text of the piece. The vast Bay 17 space has been transformed into a canvas of sorts, upon which the performers will write this act of transformation. In tandem is a singular provocation that contextualises this human struggle with the ego within the destruction of nature that can be born of this struggle.”
Elizabeth Gadsby
Set Design
Elizabeth Gadsby is a Sydney-based artist and set designer known for her work in theatre, dance, ballet and opera. Her background in installation art shapes her large-scale, collaborative designs. From 2016 to 2019, she was the resident designer at Sydney Theatre Company, enhancing its artistic and visual programming. Recent projects include set and costume design for STC’s The President starring Hugo Weaving, set design for Yuldea by Bangarra Dance Theatre, and acclaimed operas Awakening Shadow and Antarctica for Sydney Chamber Opera. Elizabeth has collaborated with esteemed companies and festivals such as Sydney Dance Company, Opera Queensland, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
“The opening image of Gilgamesh depicts a gesture of destruction and the commodification of the natural environment, the resonance of which lays the foundation for all action that follows. Materiality is a key storytelling mechanism, with blood, clay, silver and gold shifting the landscape and body into images of birth, death, violence, greed, love, and transcendence.”
David Fleischer
Design
David is an award-winning production, stage, and costume designer known for his visually striking work across theatre, dance, ballet and opera. He has designed for major companies like Sydney Theatre Company, Opera Australia, and Sydney Dance Company, with his work recognised both in Australia and internationally. His credits include iconic productions such as Belvoir’s Fangirls and SCO’s The Rape of Lucretia. David is also an associate lecturer at NIDA and has received numerous industry awards for his contributions to the arts.
“The inspiration behind the costume design for Gilgamesh spans a few key ideas. The first of which is an elemental one that coincides with the staging action and set design, where the tones and textures of silver and gold are the visual representation of wealth and power, and other organic substances provide a sense of humanity. Mesopotamian sculpture has provided evocative references for how to represent these gods, rulers and creatures. Drag representations of queer identity are also an important touchstone where the outlandish creates a mythic world – a legend of deities and worship, where sexuality and gender are fluid modes.”
Amelia Lever-Davidson
Lighting
Amelia is an award-winning lighting designer for theatre, dance, live-art, installation and events. Amelia graduated from VCA, WAAPA, and RMIT, and has since designed for leading companies such as Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company and Belvoir St Theatre. Her work has been featured nationally and internationally at festivals including Dark MOFO and Edinburgh Fringe. Amelia has received multiple Green Room Awards and prestigious mentorships and worked as a lighting director for major Australian TV networks. Highlights of her work include Sydney Theatre Company’s Julius Caesar and Malthouse’s Macbeth: An Undoing.
Benjamin Carey
Sound design
Benjamin Carey is a Sydney-based composer and educator specialising in electronic music and modular synthesiser. He is a Senior Lecturer in Composition and Music Technology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Known for his exploration of human and machine interaction in music, Benjamin has released ten albums, including METASTABILITY (2023), and has collaborated with artists like Sonya Holowell and the JACK Quartet. His work has been featured at international festivals such as Huddersfield and VIVID Sydney.
Bob Scott
Sound design
Bob Scott is a renowned audio engineer and music producer with over 20 years of experience globally. His highlights include producing the soundtrack for the film River with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, debuting The Nightline at Melbourne’s Rising Festival, and recording Bryce Dessner’s Impermanence/Disintegration with the Australian String Quartet. Bob received the Tokyo World Festival’s Sound Design award for The Howling Girls and an ARIA Award for Paul Kelly’s 13 Ways To Look At Birds. He is celebrated for blending diverse audio traditions with innovative techniques.
Tait de Lorenzo
Assistant Director
Tait de Lorenzo is a stage and screen director known for her work in new and multidisciplinary performance. She leads the independent theatre company KUNST and has directed for Belvoir, NIDA, Griffin Theatre, and Sydney Chamber Opera. Tait has worked on many notable projects including The Picture of Dorian Gray and No Pay? No Way! with Sydney Theatre Company, and she was an associate director for The Picture of Dorian Gray in London’s West End. Tait has curated events for Kaldor Public Art Projects and The Art Gallery of NSW, has received residencies and fellowships such as the Freddie J Gibson Fellowship and Incubator Fellowship, and she teaches at NIDA and AFTT.
Meet the Cast
Jeremy Kleeman
Gilgamesh
Jeremy Kleeman is a celebrated Australian bass-baritone known for his work in opera and concert performances. Notable works include Opera Australia’s The Marraige of Figaro and Sydney Chamber Opera’s Oscar and Lucinda and The Rape of Lucretia. He has won the Australian International Opera Award and performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Tilford Bach Festival. His career features prominent roles with Opera Australia, State Opera of South Australia, and Victorian Opera, with nominations for Helpmann and Green Room Awards.
Mitchell Riley
Enkidu
Mitchell Riley is an Australian artist, singer, actor, director and teacher. Starting with the Sydney Chamber Opera in 2010, he has performed and premiered contemporary works by composers like György Kurtág and Jack Symonds. His interest in music and theatre led him to study at the Jacques Lecoq International Theater School in Paris. Mitchell has since collaborated on innovative projects with Francesca Bonato, Marta Tkaczuk, and Ensemble Offrandes, and recently created Le bel automne, a theatrical work inspired by Olivier Messiaen’s music.
Jane Sheldon
Ishtar/Scorpion
Jane Sheldon is an Australian-American vocalist renowned for her innovative work in contemporary opera, electronic and chamber music, and art music. Her acclaimed album, I am a tree, I am a mouth, was listed in the New Yorker’s Notable Recordings of 2022. Praised for her voice and “mesmerising emotional truth” (The Australian), Jane has performed at top festivals and venues including Sydney Festival.
Jessica O’Donoghue
Shamhat/Uta-Napisthi/Scorpion
Jessica is a versatile performer with over 20 years of experience. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Sydney and a Diploma of Opera from VCA and has been a Young Artist with Opera Queensland and The Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Her awards include the 2021 APRA/AMCOS Art Music Award and the AIR Women in Music Mentorship Program award. Known for her work across opera, early music, contemporary pieces, and musical theatre, Jessica frequently performs with Sydney Chamber Opera and The Song Company, and her depth and range are showcased in her acclaimed albums Emerge (2017) and Rise Up (2022). In addition to performing, she produces, composes, and leads major artistic projects.
Daniel Todd
Humbaba/Ur-Shanabi
Daniel Szesiong Todd (鄭時雄) is an Australian opera singer born in Malaysia and raised in Melbourne. With dual degrees in Law and Music from the University of Melbourne, he also trained at Victorian Opera and later with Hamburg Staatsoper’s International Opera Studio. He has performed globally with leading conductors and orchestras and collaborated with baroque and classical specialists. Passionate about music education, Daniel has worked on outreach programs in Germany and Australia, and taught in Suzhou, China. Since returning to Australia, he has worked with Forest Collective, Victorian Opera, and Australian Contemporary Opera Co.
Carriageworks, Sydney Chamber Opera, and Opera Australia.
26 September – 5 October