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FLUXUS Opera Lab Announces Inaugural Space to Create Recipients and Expanded Mentorship Program

FLUXUS

Key Facts:

• FLUXUS has awarded three $5,000 Opera Lab Space to Create development grants to Alice Chance, Teddy Dunn & Alex Turley, and Daniel Szesiong Todd for new Australian opera projects.
• Due to overwhelming interest, FLUXUS increased the number of grants from two to three in its inaugural year.
• The selected projects range from children's opera to hybrid song cycles and contemporary adaptations of classical works.
• An additional nine artists will receive support through FLUXUS's mentorship programme.
• The FLUXUS Opera Lab, supported by the Australian Government, aims to foster experimentation and collaboration in contemporary opera development.

FLUXUS is pleased to announce the recipients of the inaugural FLUXUS Opera Lab Space to Create $5,000 development grants, alongside an expanded mentorship program supporting new Australian opera.

In its first year, the Opera Lab received an overwhelming number of submissions from artists across the country, reflecting a strong national appetite for creating new operatic work and signalling a vibrant future for the art form in Australia.

In response to this level of interest and the strength of applications, FLUXUS has increased the number of Space to Create grants from two to three.

The 2026 Space to Create recipients are:

• Alice Chance (composer) — Great Big Tree An award-winning composer known for her inventive and accessible work across choral and music theatre forms, Alice brings a distinctive musical language and a strong sense of storytelling to this new work for younger audiences.

• Teddy Dunn (writer) & Alex Turley (composer) — Suits A collaboration between two highly experienced artists, Suits builds on an existing body of work to explore identity, voice and form through a staged song cycle that sits between opera and contemporary music theatre.

• Daniel Szesiong Todd (writer) — Chinese Medea A bold reimagining of a classic narrative, this project brings together an experienced creative team, including award-winning composer Evan Lawson, to explore myth, culture and contemporary perspectives through a new operatic lens.

These projects reflect a wide range of approaches to opera-making, from work for younger audiences to hybrid song cycle forms to contemporary reimaginings of classical narratives. Each project will receive $5,000 to support early-stage development, alongside tailored mentorship and industry connections. 

In addition, FLUXUS will support an additional nine artists through its mentorship stream, providing targeted guidance, creative development support, and opportunities for connection within the sector. The 2026 mentorship recipients are:

• Peggy Polias
• Caitlin Vincent
• Oliver John Cameron
• Phoebe Daisy
• Amarantha Robinson 
• Katia Geha
• Claudia Osborne & Imogen Gardam
• Sienna Brown
• Nicholas Sheppard & Isabella Svojtka
• Heidi Everett
• Vidya Rajan

The FLUXUS Opera Lab is designed to support artists at early and mid stages of development, with a focus on experimentation, collaboration, and expanding the possibilities of opera as a contemporary artform.

FLUXUS extends its sincere thanks to the Opera Lab Advisory Panel - Lindy Hume AM PhD, Alison Croggon, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, Jack Symonds, Sarah Giles and Iain Grandage AM - for their invaluable insight, rigour and generosity in assessing this year’s applications. The depth of their feedback has been instrumental in shaping the program and supporting artists beyond this round.

Ali McGregor, Creative Director of FLUXUS, said: “The response to our first year has been extraordinary. It’s clear that a large number of artists across Australia want to explore opera in new ways - often outside traditional pathways. The breadth of ideas and voices in this round gives us real confidence in the future of the art form. Expanding both the number of grants and the mentorship stream allows us to support more artists at a critical stage of development, and to build a stronger pipeline for new work.”

Over the coming months, FLUXUS will share further insights into each selected project and artist, alongside opportunities for the wider community to engage with the work as it develops. The FLUXUS Opera Lab has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body. Research for the program was undertaken as part of Ali McGregor's 2023/24 Australia Council Fellowship (Creative Australia) 

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Wendy Richards
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