The new Board of Trustees of Les Arts approves the start of the selection process for the Artistic Director of the opera house

The Board of Trustees of the Palau de les Arts has approved the members of the management body and the call for applications for the position of Artistic Director of the opera house.

As for the members of the Board of Trustees, it comprises 17 members, 6 of whom come from Valencian civil society and 11 are institutional representatives. Susana Lloret, the driving force behind the Fundació Per Amor a l'Art, has been ratified as president of the Board of Trustees of Les Arts. New members have also been appointed: Isabel Muñoz, former manager of the Príncipe Felipe Research Center; Carmen Alborch, former Minister of Culture and trustee of the Teatro Real in Madrid; José Remohí, co-president of the Valencian Infertility Institute (IVI); Rafael Juan, head of the company Dulcesol; and Pablo Font de Mora, president of the Amics de l'Òpera i les Arts de la Comunitat Valenciana (Friends of Opera and the Arts of the Valencian Community).

Regarding institutional representation, President Ximo Puig holds the honorary presidency, and the other members of the Palau de les Arts Foundation Board of Trustees are: the Minister of Education, Research, Culture and Sport, Vicent Marzà; the Regional Secretary for Culture and Sport, Albert Girona; the Regional Secretary for Finance, Clara Ferrando; the Regional Secretary for Tourism, Francesc Colomer; the Director General of Culture and Heritage, Carmen Amoraga; the Director General of the Public Sector, Juan Ángel Poyatos; the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Research, Culture and Sport, José Villar; the Director General of the Valencian Institute of Culture, Abel Guarinos; and the member of the Valencian Council of Culture, Ramon Roselló. Both the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the INAEM (National Institute of Performing Arts and Music) also have two reserved seats on the Board of Trustees.

The mandate of the current patrons of Les Arts is established for a period of five years and they can be re-elected indefinitely.

Artistic Direction of Les Arts

The new Board of Trustees has approved the rules of the competition, following the Code of Good Practices in Valencian Culture, for the selection of candidates aspiring to obtain the Artistic Direction of the Valencian opera house.

The Les Arts Foundation has also determined the members of the evaluation committee for the various applications. This committee will consist of nine members. As stipulated by the Code of Good Practices in Valencian Culture, three are institutional representatives, three are experts in the world of opera and culture, and three are representatives of civil society.

Regarding the world of opera and culture, the event will feature Christina Scheppelmann, artistic director of the Liceu in Barcelona; Joan Matabosch, artistic director of the Teatro Real in Madrid; and Ana Luisa Chova, professor of singing at the Higher Conservatory of Music in Valencia.

The representatives of civil society who will be part of the evaluation committee will be Pablo Font de Mora, president of Amics de l'Òpera i de les Arts de la Comunitat Valenciana; Ramon Roselló, from the Valencian Council of Culture, and Vicent Ros, director of the Palace of Music of Valencia.

Susana Lloret, president of the Board of Trustees of Les Arts; Marga Landete, deputy director of Music and Popular Culture of the IVC, and José Villar, undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Research, Culture and Sport, will make up the institutional representation of the evaluation committee.

Evaluation by the assessment committee

Each applicant must submit a project outlining their artistic proposal and management plan. This must include a proposal for the next two opera seasons, as well as a general outline of the project until the contract's completion.

The proposal submitted must include all the performance spaces of Les Arts and must relate to operatic programming as well as musical, choreographic and stage programming in all its varieties.

Furthermore, the bid proposals must include action plans to ensure that Les Arts becomes a hub for internationalization and operatic excellence, that the space is used to its fullest potential across all disciplines, and that there is a symphonic program featuring the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. In addition, the proposal must include a plan for the development of the Plácido Domingo Centre for Advanced Studies and a defined project for the technical, educational, and training staff.

The committee will assess the candidate's relevant specific training, as well as musical knowledge, international experience and experience in educational projects; the ability to adapt to the current artistic model of Les Arts, as well as the capacity for artistic and management innovation; the ability to lead teams; a proven national and international network and agenda in the field of opera houses, the ability to have public relations skills in the opera world, and knowledge of management and economic vision of programming to design economically sustainable content.

Applications and characteristics of the contract

The call for applications for the Artistic Director position will be published in the coming days in the Official Gazette of the Valencian Government (DOGV). The application period will be 30 calendar days, starting the day after its publication in the DOGV.

The person appointed to fill the position will sign a senior management contract, which will last for 4 years, extendable for another 4 years through a performance evaluation process.

The gross annual salary will be between 120,000 and 135,000 euros, depending on the assigned duties.