Death of Pierre Audi, general director of the Aix lyric art festival

Published on May 4, 2025 at 1:47 p.m.

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French-Lebanese director and director of the Aix-en-Provence International Lyric Art Festival, Pierre Audi, poses during a photoshoot in Paris on May 24, 2019. JOEL SAGET / AFP

Two months before the opening of the next Aix-en-Provence festival, the sudden death of its director, Pierre Audi, 67, leaves a huge void.

The Franco-Lebanese director Pierre Audi, head of the Aix-en-Provence Lyric Art Festival and former artistic director of the Netherlands National Opera, died suddenly at the age of 67 in Beijing on the night of May 2-3. "The world of artistic creation has lost an immense artist and director of an institution, a citizen of the world at the crossroads of Mediterranean and Western cultures," the Aix Festival team immediately reacted with "immense sadness." Pierre Audi's term as general director of this event was due to run until 2027. "He was able to quickly find solutions to respond to the crisis recently experienced by the festival. We were preparing, with the local authorities, to propose that he extend his work for three additional years," stressed the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati.

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