English National Opera (ENO) has announced the appointment of Jenny Mollica as Director of Baylis, ENO’s learning and participation department. She will join ENO in the summer.
Mollica joins from the Barbican and Guildhall School of Music & Drama where she is currently Director of Creative Learning, responsible for leading the Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning department, which every year supports more than 22,000 people of all ages and backgrounds through providing learning programmes across visual arts, theatre, dance, film, music and literature. Having trained at postgraduate level as both an artist and educator, she has a Masters (Distinction) in Theatre Directing from Middlesex University and the Russian Institute of Theatre Art (GITIS), a PGCE from the University of Greenwich and an MA (Hons) from the University of St Andrews.
ENO Baylis offers a range of opportunities for people of all ages to engage with opera. It focuses in particular on young people aged 11-18, and in the last four years has exposed more than 20,000 young people to opera either through Opera Squad residencies, or through Baylis in the Balcony, which provides free tickets to schools for dress rehearsals.
In addition to working with schools in London, this year the programme has extended to schools in Luton and Liverpool. All of the schools ENO Baylis works with have pupil populations with above average percentage BAME, SEN and free school meals.
Jenny Mollica said:
‘I am thrilled to be joining the ENO to lead the brilliant Baylis programme at this progressive and much loved company. It has been a great privilege to lead the work of Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning over the past few years alongside so many inspirational colleagues. I am now looking forward to working with ENO’s world-class team at this exciting time to reimagine the future significance of Baylis for a new decade and beyond.’
Header photo: Jenny Mollica
