Sophia Brous is an Australian, New-York based artist, performer, musician, composer, director and curator. She creates new works of contemporary music, theatre and multi-artform performance, working with concert houses, theatres, festivals and major events internationally.
Sophia is a resident artist at The Brooklyn Academy of Music/BAM, New York, and former resident of National Sawdust New York and The Watermill Centre. She was Curator at Large of Brooklyn not-for-profit Pioneer Works, and Artistic Associate of the Arts Centre Melbourne, where she founded Supersense: Festival of the Ecstatic in 2015, named ‘the only festival that matters’ by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Brous’ practice draws on far-reaching interests in contemporary performance, music and sound, multi-disciplinary collaboration and artistic direction. She works with a vast range of artists across music, film, theatre, dance and contemporary performance, to create new and commissioned works for stage, concert hall, blackbox theatre, gallery and public space.
As a performer and creator, Brous’ work has been presented at international spaces including The Barbican, Southbank Centre, Paris Philharmonie, Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn Academy of Music, REDCAT LA, Kennedy Centre Washington DC, Oslo Opera House, Royal Danish Playhouse, DOCUMENTA Athens, De Doelen Rotterdam, Sydney Opera House, Dublin Concert Hall, Pioneer Works, RISING, Dark MOFO and the Adelaide, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne Festivals.
Recent projects include the world premiere production of ’50 Minutes’ (2025), a new play by British author Deborah Levy (Theater am Neumarkt Zurich); contemporary opera for public space ‘The Invisible Opera’ (2021) for Singapore Festival, RISING, BAM, steirischerherbst Graz, Perth Festival; the acclaimed dance work ‘Weathering’ (2023) by US choreographer Faye Driscoll; multi-artform performance ‘Mount Analogue: A Provisionally Utopian Live Performance Event’ (2022) for Oslo Opera House, Ultima Festival, Royal Danish Playhouse; the immersive live concert and film experience Dream Machine (2019) with guests Iggy Pop, the Master Musicians of Jajouka & Genesis Breyer P-Orridge; song cycle Lullaby Movement (2018) with David Coulter and Leo Abrahams, for Sydney Festival, Operadagen Rotterdam, National Sawdust; and ongoing New York large ensemble EXO-TECH, led and Music Directed by Brous, and created with pop innovator Kimbra.
Other productions include The Barbican’s In Dreams: David Lynch Revisited (directed by David Coulter); the world premiere of Ursula K Le Guin’s Music and Poetry of the Kesh (2018) with Okwui Okpokwasili for RVNG International; When The World’s On Fire (2018) with Marc Ribot for the Kennedy Centre Washington DC; The Arthur Russell Retrospective (Brooklyn Academy of Music) with Peter Zummo, Ernie Brooks and Peter Gordon; Frank Zappa’s legendary opera 200 Motels for Southbank Centre/Rest is Noise Festival with the BBC Concert Orchestra; Marina Abramovic’s Private Archaeologies (MONA/Dark MOFO); Anthony McAll’s Solid Light Works (Pioneer Works) and motion pictures including The Surfer (2024) Mary Magdalene (2018); Judy and Punch (2019); Ecco Homo (2018) and The Invisible Mountain (2021).
Brous collaborates regularly with a diverse range of musicians and artists in live and recorded settings, including past collaborations with David Byrne, Caroline Polachek, L’Rain, Moses Sumney, Laraaji, Questlove, Sean Ono Lennon, Julia Holter, Jenny Hval, Jim White, Mick Harvey, Michael Rother, Marc Ribot, Colin Stetson, Belle and Sebastian, Zeena Parkins, Oliver Coates, Lucy Railton, HTRK, James Rushford and Senyawa. She works closely with cross-disciplinary artists including choreographer Faye Driscoll, artists Ivan Cheng; Hans Rosenstrom and Ben Russell, authors Deborah Levy and Catherine Lacey, Academy Award winning foley artist Nicolas Becker and theatre makers Lara Thoms, Samara Hersch, Mish Grigor and Tine Milz.
Alongside her own practice, Sophia is a recognised curator of live performance, theatre, dance and music. At the age of 22, she emerged as one of Australia’s youngest festival directors as the Program Director of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (2008-2012), before commencing as Curator of Music of the Adelaide Festival of the Arts (2010-2012) and founder and director of Supersense: Festival of the Ecstatic at the Arts Centre Melbourne. She is ongoing Artistic Director of international philosophy and performance series The Sophia Club, created with Aeon Magazine. She studied jazz improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston and Victorian College of the Arts, Music.
