About Maya Barsacq
Maya Barsacq is a French-American conductor, composer, performance artist and opera coach. She is a dynamic artist and a passionate advocate for opera, classical, and contemporary classical music. As the founder and conductor of Cadenza and the interdisciplinary art project Nu, she brings her talents to performance, composition, and education. Nu, where Barsacq serves as conductor, artistic director, and curator, hosts performances across Europe with plans to expand globally.
A skilled music director, Barsacq has conducted for Opera de Tenerife, the New Frequencies Festival, Classical Revolution Orchestra, Hannover Ensemble, and other international stages. She has also assisted with Midsummer Mozart Festival, Opera Idaho, and West Bay Opera, collaborating with renowned singers, directors, and instrumentalists worldwide.
Her mentors include renowned conductors George Cleve, Nicole Paiement, Barbara Day Turner and Michel Singher.
An ardent supporter of music education, she teaches master classes worldwide and currently coaches opera singers through Cosi7 and SoftlyLoud Consulting.
In 2021, Maya Barsacq founded the Zenith Opera Competition, a prestigious international vocal competition that has rapidly earned a reputation as an invaluable platform for emerging opera stars.
Co-directed with soprano Rebecca Davis, the competition attracts top-tier talent from around the world and is judged by a distinguished panel of the world’s most renowned opera houses, including the NY Metropolitan Opera, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro Real etc… Now entering its fifth edition, The Zenith Opera competition has already proven instrumental in identifying and nurturing the next generation of operatic talent, offering participants not only recognition but invaluable career-building opportunities. Through rigorous selection and mentorship, the Zenith Opera Competition continues to shape the future of opera, spotlighting rising voices destined to shape the global opera stage.
In addition to conducting, Barsacq is an active composer. Her upcoming projects include a new theatrical an immersive performance debuting in Berlin and Paris, and a song cycle titled Moment(s) for soprano/tenor and piano. Recent engagements have included works performed at the Home Stretch festival in Madison Wisconsin, the Loop Barcelona, and at the National Art Center in Tokyo, Japan. In 2024, her new solo cello composition Split Space will be premiered by cellist Kathleen Balfe.
Her curiosity and drive to learn about living composers´works and lives are showcased monthly in her podcast the Aeolian Impromptu