Pierre Audi, a celebrated French-Lebanese theatre and opera director whose groundbreaking work reshaped European opera and experimental theatre, passed away suddenly on May 3, 2025, in Beijing, at the age of 67. His death occurred while he was actively engaged in a new production, underscoring his lifelong dedication to the performing arts.
Born on November 9, 1957, in Beirut, Lebanon, Pierre Audi was the eldest of three children of Raymond Audi, a prominent Lebanese banker, and Andrée Michel Fattal. The Audi family hailed from Saida, a coastal city in Lebanon. Even in his youth, Pierre displayed an extraordinary passion for the arts.
While a student at the French Lycée in Beirut, he founded a cinema club that hosted legendary film directors such as Pier Paolo Pasolini and Jacques Tati, revealing early signs of his deep curiosity and drive to bring global artistry into conversation with local audiences.
Due to family circumstances, Audi relocated to Paris, where he attended the Collège Stanislas de Paris. At 17, his family moved once again—this time to England—where he enrolled at Exeter College, Oxford, to study history.
It was during his time at Oxford that Audi began experimenting with theatre direction, staging Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens at the Oxford Playhouse in November 1977 under the auspices of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. This formative experience launched a lifelong career in directing and producing works that blended tradition with innovation.
In 1979, at just 22 years old, Audi founded the Almeida Theatre in Islington, North London. Originally conceived as an experimental space, the Almeida quickly became known for its bold productions and cutting-edge programming. Throughout the 1980s, Audi directed numerous works there, earning a reputation as a visionary who was unafraid to take artistic risks.
His influence expanded significantly when he was appointed artistic director of the Dutch National Opera in 1988, a position he held for an impressive 30 years until 2018. During his tenure, he transformed the company into one of the most respected opera institutions in Europe.
His ambitious programming included the Netherlands’ first complete performance of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Mozart’s Da Ponte operas, Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, and several contemporary operas.
Among his most notable collaborations were avant-garde projects with filmmaker Peter Greenaway and composer Louis Andriessen, including Rosa – A Horse Drama and Writing to Vermeer. Audi also commissioned important new works, such as Alfred Schnittke’s Life with an Idiot.
In addition to his opera leadership, Audi served as artistic director of the Holland Festival from 2005 to 2014, broadening its international scope and cementing its role as a platform for innovative performing arts.
In 2015, he took on a new challenge as artistic director of Park Avenue Armory in New York, while still maintaining his work in Europe. In 2018, following his departure from the Dutch National Opera, he assumed leadership of the Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence, continuing to champion artistic excellence on the world stage.
Pierre Audi’s sudden passing while working in Beijing is a profound loss to the global arts community. Admired for his intellectual rigor, visual flair, and deep reverence for both classical and contemporary forms, Audi bridged cultures, generations, and genres. His legacy is one of relentless curiosity, creative fearlessness, and a commitment to making opera and theatre accessible, daring, and vital.
He leaves behind a towering legacy of artistic achievement and a global network of collaborators, performers, and admirers who mourn his loss deeply. Pierre Audi was not only a director but a force—his vision and impact will resonate for decades to come.
