# Helpmann Award for Best Direction of an Opera

The Helpmann Award for Best Direction of an Opera is an award presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA), an employers' organisation which serves as the peak body in the live entertainment and performing arts industries in Australia. The accolade is handed out at the annual Helpmann Awards, which celebrates achievements in musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, opera, classical music, theatre, dance and physical theatre.
The award is given to the "director who has made a material contribution to the Australian aspect of the production." The nominees are determined by the Opera and Classical Music branch of the Helpmann Awards Nominating Panel; winners are chosen by all branches of the Nominating Panel, and other eligible voters.

## Winners and nominees

* Source:
| Year | Director | Production |
| 2001 (1st) | Neil Armfield | The Eighth Wonder |
| 2001 (1st) | Lindy Hume | Orlando |
| 2001 (1st) | Barrie Kosky | Wozzeck |
| 2001 (1st) | Moffatt Oxenbould | Simon Boccanegra |
| 2002 (2nd) | Lindy Hume | Batavia |
| 2002 (2nd) | Stephen Medcalf | Going Into Shadows |
| 2002 (2nd) | Elke Neidhardt | Parsifal |
| 2002 (2nd) | Simon Phillips | L'elisir d'amore |
| 2003 (3rd) | Neil Armfield | The Marriage of Figaro |
| 2003 (3rd) | Elke Neidhardt | Il Trovatore |
| 2003 (3rd) | Patrick Nolan | Love in the Age of Therapy |
| 2003 (3rd) | Francesca Zambello | Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District |
| 2004 (4th) | Joe Mantello, Brad Dalton | Dead Man Walking |
| 2004 (4th) | Nigel Jamieson | Brundibár |
| 2004 (4th) | Harry Kupfer | Otello |
| 2004 (4th) | Simon Phillips | Lulu |
| 2005 (5th) | Elke Neidhardt | Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle) |
| 2005 (5th) | Stuart Maunder | Manon |
| 2005 (5th) | Patrick Nolan | Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda |
| 2005 (5th) | Francesca Zambello | The Love for Three Oranges |
| 2006 (6th) | John Cox | The Rake's Progress |
| 2006 (6th) | Simon Phillips | La Bohème |
| 2006 (6th) | Rachel McDonald | La voix humaine |
| 2006 (6th) | David Freeman | Nabucco |
| 2007 (7th) | Douglas Horton | The Hive |
| 2007 (7th) | Olivia Fuchs | Rusalka |
| 2007 (7th) | Lindy Hume | The Love of the Nightingale |
| 2007 (7th) | Leigh Warren | Satyagraha |
| 2008 (8th) | John Cox | Arabella |
| 2008 (8th) | Bruce Beresford | A Streetcar Named Desire |
| 2008 (8th) | Adam Cook | Little Women |
| 2008 (8th) | Nigel Jamieson | Dead Man Walking |
| 2009 (9th) | Neil Armfield | Billy Budd |
| 2009 (9th) | Kate Cherry | L'incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppaea) |
| 2009 (9th) | Chris Kohn | The Children's Bach |
| 2009 (9th) | Graeme Murphy | Aida |
| 2010 (10th) | Neil Armfield | Peter Grimes |
| 2010 (10th) | Neil Armfield | Bliss |
| 2010 (10th) | Chris Drummond | The Flying Dutchman |
| 2010 (10th) | Alex Olle and Valentina Carrasco | Le Grand Macabre |
| 2011 (11th) | Nigel Jamieson | La Fanciulla del West |
| 2011 (11th) | Christopher Alden | Partenope |
| 2011 (11th) | Michael Kantor | Threepenny Opera |
| 2011 (11th) | Leigh Warren | Maria De Buenos Aires |
| 2012 (12th) | Leonard Foglia | Moby-Dick |
| 2012 (12th) | Bruce Beresford | Of Mice and Men |
| 2012 (12th) | Matthew Lutton | Elektra |
| 2012 (12th) | Francesca Zambello | La Traviata |
| 2013 (13th) | Àlex Ollé | Un ballo in maschera |
| 2013 (13th) | Rodula Gaitanou | L'isola disabitata |
| 2013 (13th) | Gale Edwards | Salome |
| 2013 (13th) | Ludger Engels | Semele Walk |
| 2014 (14th) | Neil Armfield | Melbourne Ring Cycle |
| 2014 (14th) | Chas Rader-Shieber | Orlando |
| 2014 (14th) | Simon Phillips | The Turk in Italy |
| 2014 (14th) | Roger Hodgman | Nixon in China |
| 2015 (15th) | Paul Curran | Faramondo |
| 2015 (15th) | David McVicar | Don Giovanni |
| 2015 (15th) | David McVicar | Faust |
| 2015 (15th) | Leigh Warren | The Philip Glass Trilogy |
| 2016 (16th) | David McVicar | The Marriage of Figaro |
| 2016 (16th) | Michael Gow | Voyages to the Moon |
| 2016 (16th) | Cameron Menzies | The Grumpiest Boy in the World |
| 2016 (16th) | Laurence Dale | Agrippina |
| 2017 (17th) | Barrie Kosky | Saul |
| 2017 (17th) | David McVicar | Cosi fan tutte |
| 2017 (17th) | Damiano Michieletto | Cavalleria Rusticana & I Pagliacci |
| 2017 (17th) | Gale Edwards | Cloudstreet |
| 2018 (18th) | Neil Armfield | Hamlet |
| 2018 (18th) | Barrie Kosky | The Nose |
| 2018 (18th) | Stuart Maunder | The Cunning Little Vixen |
| 2018 (18th) | Matthew Lutton | Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets |
| 2019 (19th) | Barrie Kosky and Suzanne Andrade | The Magic Flute |
| 2019 (19th) | William Kentridge | Wozzeck |
| 2019 (19th) | Lindy Hume | Don Giovanni |
| 2019 (19th) | Sarah Giles | Lorelei |