By: Azad Karimi
I am thankful every single day to have the opportunity to do what I love and to be in charge of such an exciting and important mission which inspires and challenges me.
Interview
British-French-Canadian Musicolog Julia Lagahuzere
By Azad Karimi
Great God, you are our Creator. But women are amazing.
Women have shown that they are very competent in executive and managerial affairs. Maybe they came into being to correct our mistakes as men.
Julia, Lady Julia, says: I just followed my passion and my heart and I never strayed from that path.
She adds to also: Last year she became General Director of Opera for Peace.
Peace, lovely peace.
It is interesting to write about the pleasant event of peace between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Many people around the world saw the ceremony at the White House two days ago. it was very beautiful.
I would like to congratulate Julia and the people of Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on their efforts to bring peace.
Finally, I want to remind the Oslo Accords 1993.
In my opinion, the Oslo Accords were the cornerstone of the Abraham Washington D.C Accords, which were signed two days ago.
I prefer to leave my beautiful interview with my dear Julia to my readers to believe what I said about amazing women is reflected in the existence of Julia.
God bless you, Julia! I wish you a long life with happiness and lucky.
Thank you!
Vestland-Norway
1-Please introduce yourself: (Name, education, nationality...)
.Julia Lagahuzère, triple nationality: British, French and Canadian. I studied musicology at Sussex University, University of California, Berkeley and King’s College London.
2-What is your artistic area of expertise?
.My career has been based around artistic administration, principally casting, in various opera houses. Most recently I held the position of Deputy Casting Director at Opéra de Paris where I was responsible for hundreds of singers per season in two theatres: Opéra de Bastille and Palais Garnier. Before that I worked at Opéra de Limoges, Scottish Opera and San Francisco Opera.
3- When and how did you become interested in this field of art?
.I was always someone that was curious about new cultures, languages and people, with a strong fantasy mind that loved stories and the complexity of human relationships. I was therefore naturally drawn to the particularly unique and compelling world of opera.
4- Do you have any people that guided you in your career?
.I can’t cite any particular mentor unfortunately; there just wasn’t the culture of helping women at that time like we have now. I just followed my passion and my heart and I never strayed from that path. I was completely focused on the target.
5- What was your parent’s reaction?
.Luckily my parents were very supportive... especially my mother who also loves opera and classical music. There was always music in the house and she encouraged me to play instruments.
- When did you start working as an Arts professional and as an Opera Director?
.I did a lot of work experience from a young age at the same time as studying, but my first position of responsibility was as Artistic Director at Opéra de Limoges in France. Last year I became General Director of Opera for Peace.
7- Are you thankful and happy because of your activities as Co-founder/ General Director at Opera for Peace - Leading Young Voices of the World?
.I am thankful every single day to have the opportunity to do what I love and to be in charge of such an exciting and important mission which inspires and challenges me. I also have the luck of working with a great team who are as passionate as I am. Our partners and entire network of artists are also a wonderful source of motivation.
8- You are one of the Opera for Peace founders. The name of your Operas' department contains a message: peace and youth. Why?
.We trust in our youth and give them important opportunities because the world is getting more complicated and young people are being asked to take on more responsibility. So it has to work both ways. We use the word “Peace” as a general term for balance. In my opinion this can only be achieved through mutual tolerance, social justice and equal opportunities through accessible education.
9- Why have some Opera performances become immortal?
.Opera is the magic moment when everything comes together – music, acting, costumes, staging - and expresses the highest forms of human emotion. This is very difficult to achieve as the mix needs to be just right, so when it does it becomes immortal.
10- How do you see music, performances, opera, art and culture in your opinion? What is your prediction for the future of music?
.Every industry needs to adapt to the world in which we live, and Opera and music are no different. I believe that it is a mistake to hang onto the past – however glorious. There will now be a painful but interesting period of experimentation to see how we can move forward into the future, but my prediction is that we will come out of it stronger and more resilient.
12- How do you see this new worldwide movement that you are creating?
.Important work takes time. As the expression goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day…”, and so the movement is gaining ground slowly but surely. Together with my team we travel around the world speaking to young artists and showing our vision and way of thinking, one town at a time. Now with the pandemic we have switched to online communication which has the benefit of reaching even remote areas and speaking to different people in different regions at the same instance!
13- How can you help our world become a better place to live?
.By showing people an alternative way of seeing the world and by proposing in concrete terms how this can work.
14- Do you have any more to add, or a particular message for our readers?
.Even a very small consistent action for positive change is a worthwhile action. The beauty of this is after a while we realise that we have contributed to something truly important.
