FEDORA - FEDORA Prizes Biennale 2025

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FEDORA Prizes Biennale 2025 - Education Jury

FEDORA Prizes

Meet the Jury members of the FEDORA Education Prize 2025, supported by Carlara International. Learn more about these industry experts' professional backgrounds, their support for the FEDORA Prizes, and their dedication to fostering innovation in socially impactful and participative opera and dance projects.

*Jury members are listed by alphabetical order of last name, and starting with the Jury Chair.

Hannah Griffiths
Jury Chair
General Manager
Birmingham Opera Company
(United Kingdom)

Hannah Griffiths is the current General Manager at the Birmingham Opera Company since 2019. Hannah has a BA Hons in Italian from Oxford University and a Master's in European Thought from University College London. She embarked on a PhD in autumn 2021, researching opera, human rights and cultural politics. She studies at the University of Warwick, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Midlands4Cities. Hannah previous roles include: Senior Producer, ENO Baylis at English National Opera; Learning & Participation Manager (Opera) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Head of Participation and Learning at GöteborgsOperan in Sweden. Hannah discovered opera by mistake aged 17. Building on that, she now has twenty years’ professional experience in the performing arts, creative programming and participation. Hannah is just as interested in how opera can develop through creative encounters with a broad range of people, as she is in what people can learn about opera.

Ognyan Draganov
General Manager
Stara Zagora State Opera
(Bulgaria)

"As director of Stara Zagora State Opera, I find the FEDORA Prizes Biennale and Education Prize crucial for fostering innovative opera and dance projects, enhancing social integration, and engaging diverse audiences through education."

Ognyan Draganov has been the General Manager at Stara Zagora State Opera since 2015. He previously held positions as Assistant Director, Second Director, Vice-Director, and Director at the Sofia Opera (1986-2002) before realising various productions mainly abroad in Romania, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Colombia and Russia (2002-2013). He then became the Chief Director of Opera in Sarajevo (2008 – 2012) then Chief Director of the Ruse State Opera (2013-2015). Under his leadership, the Stara Zagora State Opera has flourished, expanding its international presence through partnerships with prestigious European opera houses. One of Draganov’s most significant and personally proud projects is “We Are Musicians,” a finalist for the FEDORA Education Prize 2021, which offers art therapeutic workshops for children with special educational needs and various developmental and behavioural difficulties.

Myriam Mazouzi
Director
Academy of the Paris National Opera
(France)

“Since its creation, the Académie has been committed to training a new generation of opera professionals, as well as a new generation of spectators. The FEDORA Prizes Biennale and the Education Prize specifically testify to the importance of the work of transmission and inclusion carried out by performing arts institutions to bring their representations of the world closer to a diverse and constantly changing society.”

Myriam Mazouzi has been the Director at the Academy of the Paris National Opera since 2014. Alongside Nicolas Frize, she is involved in creating the Studio du Temps, a studio for restoring sound archives at the Maison Centrale de Saint-Maur. She had her tenure as Production Director at the Paris Orchestra (2002-2011) before creating the Academy of the Paris National Opera in 2015, which serves as a place of training and experimentation for a new generation of artists from diverse backgrounds and a space for opening up opera and dance to new audiences.

Nicholas McRoberts
Musical & Artistic Director
Opera Biarritz
(Australia / France)

"It has never been more urgent to reinvent opera and bring it closer to audiences of today and tomorrow through innovation, outreach and education. In this, FEDORA plays an essential role."

Nicholas McRoberts is an Australian-born conductor and composer based in France. He is currently the Orchestra Chief of Demos for the Paris Philharmonic Hall since 2019, Artistic Director of the Montmartre Opera since 2018, and Founder and Musical Director of Opera Biarritz since 2018. He is also a steering committee member of RESEO. As an award-winning composer, his works include operas, symphonies, ballets, concertos, chamber music, and vocal pieces. His symphonic poem Ozeano was commissioned by the Paris Philharmonic Hall, and his Symphony “From the Old World” received a standing ovation at its 2022 premiere with the Sofia Philharmonic.

Steinunn Ragnarsdóttir
CEO & Artistic Director
Icelandic Opera
(Iceland)

“I consider the FEDORA Prizes Biennale a vital platform for recognizing and funding exceptional projects and artists, fostering innovation, creativity, excellence and sustainability in the performing arts”

Steinunn Ragnarsdóttir has been the General and Artistic Director of the Icelandic Opera since 2015, and was previously the Artistic Director of Harpa Concert Hall from its opening in 2011. She has lead the vision, strategy and operations of these prominent cultural institutions in Iceland, and regularly participated as a speaker and panel member in international conferences, sharing her insights on cultural strategies and creative transformation.

Bogdan Strutynskyi
Artistic Director
Kyiv National Academic Theatre Operetta
(Ukraine)

"It’s a big pleasure for me to become a member of the FEDORA Educational Prize jury. As a teacher of the “Actor Arts and Drama” Department of Kyiv National University of Theater, Cinema and Television named after I. K. Karpenko-Kary, I assume that it is extremely important to encourage students, inspire them and support their ideas. I believe that innovative and educational projects are our future. They advocate for new access to opera and dance while encouraging the involvement of local communities to boost social-emotional learning, mutual understanding and respect in today’s society."

Bogdan Strutynskyi has been the General and Artistic Director of the Kyiv National Academic Theatre of Operetta since 2003. He studied at Kalush School of Culture (1987-1989), specialising as a director of mass spectacles, at Rivne Institute of Culture (1989-1992) in drama, and at Kyiv State Institute of Theater Arts (1992-1996) in acting and drama directing, and took a postgraduate course at Kyiv State Institute of Theater Arts (1996-1999). Strutynskyi worked at the State Cultural Center named after Les Kurbas (1996-2003) and as a senior teacher at the Department of Acting Art and Drama of the Kyiv State Institute of Theater Arts (1999-2013). He was elected Head of the Guild of Directors of Ukraine (2013) and Head of the National Union of Theatrical Artists of Ukraine (2016). Strutynskyi was awarded the honorary title “Honoured Artist of Art” (2007), “Honoured Artist of Ukraine'' (2015), and was named Knight of the Orders “For Merit” of St. Volodymyr and “Symbol of Honor” for his significant contributions to Ukrainian theatre art, creative achievements, and high professionalism.

Krysztina Winkel
Head of Education & Outreach
Vienna State Opera
(Germany / Austria)

Krysztina Winkel has been the Head of the Education & Outreach Department at the Vienna State Opera since 2020 and is a Creative Producer and Director for youth and community opera. She studied at Ruhr University Bochum and obtained a Master's degree in Arts, Enterprise and Development at the University of Warwick (UK). From 2024-2018 Krysztina Winkel worked as Theatre Pedagogue for the Education Department at German Opera on the Rhine Düsseldorf-Duisburg and from 2019-2020 as Community Producer at the Belgrade Theater Coventry. Since 2021 Krysztina Winkel is also a lecturer at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and is Vice-Chair of RESEO – The European Network for Opera, Music and Dance Education since 2023. Her latest projects as a Director for Youth and Community Opera include Der Letzte Tag (Young Audiences Music Award 2021, Best Participatory Project), Utoperas (Nominee FEDORA EDUCATION PRIZE 2021) and Tschick – Road Opera at Vienna State Opera (Nominee Young Audiences Music Award, Category Best Opera).