Amanda Hodder

Amanda Hodder’s current major work in creation is Rumpel, a one‑act opera for countertenor and piano, with libretto co‑written by herself and Nicholas Tolputt, music by Jabra Latham, direction by Ben Winspear and produced by Performing Lines Tasmania. Creating the libretto for Rumpel is the realisation of a lifetime of encouragement, study and artistic philosophy; it marks the moment for Amanda to step more deeply into the role of key creator and developer.

As a trained classical pianist, Amanda has spent the majority of her professional life working with singers of all backgrounds. She has always been drawn to working with singers because of her lifelong interest in interrogating the intersection between text and music. One of the guiding questions in her work has been: “What is the music telling us here that the character is struggling to reveal?”

Over the past 20 years, she has collaborated with dramaturgs and actors in creating new theatre works. In this field, she has often referred to herself as a “music dramaturg”, working alongside composers to ensure that the music being created advances the text and the story held within.

Amanda has worked as an accompanist, vocal coach, pianist and music director with Opera Australia, OzOpera, Opera Queensland, Australian Musical Theatre Festival, Mona Foma and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. She has also co‑created new works for Sydney Festival, Walyalup/Fremantle Festival, Ten Days on the Island, Festival of Voices, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Melbourne Comedy Festival and Junction Arts Festival.

In 2021, Amanda collaborated with countertenor Nicholas Tolputt, director Benjamin Winspear and cinematographer Martin McGrath to create an immersive experience of Schubert’s Winterreise, resulting in a sellout season. In 2022, she worked with neurodiverse children to create a rock cabaret based on their lived experiences, created and recorded a series of new piano works with composer Jabra Latham, and was invited for a third time to be resident at Performing Lines Tasmania’s Tarraleah residency.

In Ten Days on the Island’s 2023 program, Amanda was Choral Director for Women of Troy, with new music and lyrics by Katie Noonan and Behrouz Boochani. In 2024, she wrote vocal arrangements for the second season of Bay of Fires and served as children’s chorus master for Opera Australia’s touring production of La Bohème. As leader of the highly successful pub choir Hobart Glee Club, she featured prominently in the 2024 Festival of Voices program, with all of her events selling out and enabling around 500 members of the public to experience impromptu group singing.

In 2025, Amanda was Music Director and co‑creator for Rachael Beck’s In Her Own Words (Sydney Festival) and Hannah Moloney’s Time Rebel (Ten Days on the Island).