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 has been resident artist of the The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) New York, The Mondrian Initiative, Netherlands, National Sawdust New York and The Watermill Center, New York. 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 artist, Brous’ work has been presented at The Barbican, Southbank Centre, Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts, Brooklyn Academy of Music, REDCAT LA, Kennedy Centre Washington DC, Paris Philharmonie, Oslo Opera House, Strasbourg Opera, Royal Danish Playhouse, Luxembourg Philharmonie, DOCUMENTA Athens, De Doelen Rotterdam, Dublin Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, RISING, Dark MOFO and Adelaide, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne Festivals.
Recent projects include the world premiere of ’50 Minutes’ (2025) by British author Deborah Levy (Theater am Neumarkt Zurich); ‘Songs for the Dark’ with Gundega Laivina (2026) for PS21 Chatham, New York; ‘Life Lines: a song cycle of Dorothy Porter’ (2026) with Paul Grabowsky, for the Melbourne Writers Festival; ‘In Dreams: David Lynch Revisited’ (2025) for Royal Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Strasbourg Opera, Luxembourg Philarmonie, with Anna Calvi, Jehnny Beth, Conor O’Brien, directed by David Coulter; surveillance opera for public space ‘The Invisible Opera’ (2021) for Singapore Festival, RISING, BAM, steirischerherbst Graz, Perth Festival; acclaimed dance work ‘Weathering’ (2023) by US choreographer Faye Driscoll; ‘Mount Analogue: A Provisionally Utopian Live Performance Event’ (2022) for Oslo Opera/Ultima Festival, Royal Danish Playhouse/CpH Copenhagen; immersive live concert film experience Dream Machine (2019) for Red Bull Festival New York with 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 by Sophia with pop innovator Kimbra.
Other production highlights include Ursula K Le Guin’s Music and Poetry of the Kesh (2018) for RVNG International; When The World’s On Fire (2018) with Marc Ribot for The Kennedy Center; Arthur Russell Retrospective (2017) with Peter Zummo, Ernie Brooks and Peter Gordon for BAM; Frank Zappa’s opera 200 Motels for Southbank Centre/Rest is Noise Festival (2015) with the BBC Concert Orchestra; Marina Abramovic’s Private Archaeologies (2015) for MONA/Dark MOFO; Anthony McAll’s Solid Light Works (2016) for Pioneer Works, and motion pictures The Surfer (2024) with Nicolas Cage; Mary Magdalene (2018) dir Garth Davis, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara; Judy and Punch (2019); Ecco Homo (2018) & The Invisible Mountain (2021).
Brous has collaborated with artists across live performance and music, including Laurie Anderson, David Byrne, Caroline Polachek, L’Rain, Moses Sumney, Questlove, Julia Holter, Jenny Hval, Jim White, Mick Harvey, Laraaji, Marc Ribot, Colin Stetson, Nels Cline, Zeena Parkins, Oliver Coates, Lucy Railton, James Rushford, Joel Stern, HTRK and Senyawa. She works with inter-disciplinary performance makers including Lara Thoms, Tine Milz, Mish Grigor, Ivan Cheng, Samara Hersch, choreographers Faye Driscoll and Amrita Hepi, author Deborah Levy, artists Hans Rosenstrom, Ben Russell, and Academy Award winner Nicolas Becker.
Alongside her own creative practice, Brous is a recognised curator of live performance, theatre, music and dance. At the age of 22, she emerged as one of Australia’s youngest artistic directors as Program Director of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival (2008-2012), before taking on roles with the Adelaide Festival (Curator of Music 2010-2012), Arts Centre Melbourne (founder and director of Supersense: Festival of the Ecstatic 2013-2019), and most recently ongoing Artistic Director of global philosophy and performing arts series The Sophia Club, created by Aeon Magazine. Sophia studied jazz improvisation at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston and Victorian College of the Arts, Music. She was a radio broadcaster of Triple R Radio and grew up on the custodial lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, in Melbourne, Australia.
