The Royal Ballet and Opera has announced that Netia Jones will take up the newly created position of Associate Director of The Royal Opera, leading on opera programming in the Linbury Theatre.

Working alongside Oliver Mears (Director of Opera), Jones will play a role in driving the wider artistic output of The Royal Opera and will be responsible for commissioning and creating new projects as well as advocating for the UK opera sector.

Speaking of the appointment Jones said: ‘I am delighted to join Oliver Mears and the Company. The Linbury Theatre is the perfect space to explore new technologies, to forge global connections and to reflect the artistic ambition of this exceptional Company. I look forward to working with the team on developing a programme of work that expands the boundaries of what this unlimited and unstoppable art form can be.’

Oliver Mears, Director of The Royal Opera, said: ‘We can’t wait to welcome Netia to the Company. Internationally renowned for her pioneering and innovative approach to making opera, Netia has a unique gift for fusing technology, music and drama, which will drive the future of opera in the Linbury Theatre. She joins The Royal Opera at a crucial time, and we know that her vision and belief in the unlimited possibilities of our art form will build on the extraordinary success of the Linbury Theatre since it reopened in 2018.’

For The Royal Opera, Jones has previously directed Current, Rising (2021) – the world’s first opera in hyper reality – Kafka Fragments (2013), Atthis (2015) and most recently she co-created and directed the Oliver Award-nominated Least Like the Other, Searching for Rosemary Kennedy (2023, co-produced with Irish National Opera).

Jones joins the Company at the start of a new era as they welcome Jakub Hrůša and Speranza Scappucci as Music Director and Principal Guest Conductor, respectively from September 2025.