Amanda Smith is a Toronto-based stage director and Founding Artistic Director of FAWN Chamber Creative, with whom she commissions, produces and directs new operas and experimental music concerts. In 2020, she was a Dora Award Nominee for “Outstanding Direction” on FAWN’s new opera-ballet Pandora, which also received a nomination for “Outstanding Production”. Described as a “visionary” by LUDVIG VAN, Amanda has a passion for heightening the audience experience and finds excitement in exploring the potential of the creative process through interdisciplinary collaborations.

Amanda’s musical interests span from Early Music to the very new, and everything in between. Her work has become known for breaking down creative boundaries and drawing in new audiences. This has been demonstrated by her work directing four of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s acclaimed late-night concert series Haus Musik, as well as Opera Lyra Ottawa’s Nuit Blanche production of Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot by Peter-Maxwell Davies. Amongst others, Amanda has directed for the Glenn Gould Opera School, New Music Concerts, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Toronto New Music Festival, Against the Grain Theatre, Cowtown Opera, Iranian-Canadian Composers of Toronto, Musique 3 Femmes, and Stratford Summer Music Festival. In 2020, Amanda wrote a new libretto adaptation of Die Fledermaus for Dalhousie University.

Through her personal interest in underground electronic music, Amanda has developed an extensive collaborative partnership with modular synth artist ACOTE. Together, they have built many musical platforms for storytelling with electronic and classical music, including two immersive staged art song performances at The Banff Centre, a performance art piece with dancer Joey Eddie at the Aga Khan Museum for Nuit Blanche, several Haus Musik productions, and numerous FAWN projects, including their queer techno-opera Belladonna, by Gareth Mattey. 

Now in her second year of her Master’s in Interdisciplinary Studies at York University, Amanda is combining studies in musical improvisation, devised theatre, and psychology. Her research focuses on devised creation methods for opera and how they impact empathy for artists and audiences. By approaching this creative process through both a pedagogical and psychological research lens, Amanda aims to develop a foundation from which she can grow her own creative practice as well as share these methodologies with others who are interested in co-creating new opera and music-theatre.