Roy Luxford

Roy is the Creative Director at the Edinburgh International Festival responsible creatively for the annual 25 day multi art-form festival. Prior to Edinburgh he produced theatre and dance internationally for the Barbican, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, The Young Vic, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center New York, Sydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival, Chekhov Festival Moscow, and the Venice Biennale amongst many others.

He led three of the UK’s foremost producing companies Cheek by Jowl, Michael Clark Company, and DV8 Physical Theatre, and produced the European premiere of Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul in London and Tim Supple’s version of One Thousand and One Nights for the Edinburgh International Festival.

Roy has worked with the European Festival Association’s Festival Academy as the professional lead on their Atelier for Young Producers and is also a member of UK Theatre, the UK’s theatre industry organisation.

Edinburgh International Festival

Edinburgh International Festival is the original Edinburgh festival igniting the spark which established Edinburgh as the world’s Festival City.

Founded in 1947, the International Festival was the inspired idea of Rudolf Bing, a cultural pioneer and a refugee of the second world war. He joined with civic and artistic leaders to create an event that would transcend political boundaries through a global celebration of performing arts in Scotland’s beloved capital city.

Over the following 76 years the International Festival has flourished, deepening our commitment to artistic excellence and cultural curiosity. Meanwhile, sister festivals have grown up around us, each of them contributing to the atmosphere of unparalleled excitement that transforms the city every summer.

We welcome the world to Edinburgh to experience our hand-picked programme of the finest performers in opera, music, theatre and dance. Through their artistry we create space for reflection and reconciliation, debate and celebration, bringing people of different cultures and viewpoints together.

John McGrath

John McGrath is the Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Factory International, the company that runs Manchester’s recently-opened Aviva Studios and the Manchester International Festival and Factory Academy, as well as substantial online and international programmes. Before opening Aviva Studios in October 2023, he curated four editions of the Manchester International Festival, featuring new works by international artists including Yoko Ono, Philip Glass, Skepta, Ibrahim Mahama and Tania Bruguera. Prior to this, he was the founding Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales, where he directed such works as The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning and produced such shows as The Passion of Port Talbot and Coroilan/us. He has also led Manchester’s Contact Theatre, and was Associate Director at Mabou Mines in New York. McGrath has a PhD from New York University and an honorary doctorate from the Open University, and has published widely in the field of cultural theory.

Factory International

Factory International is the organisation behind the Manchester International Festival (MIF) and the city’s landmark new cultural space, Aviva Studios.

Producing an ambitious year-round programme of original creative works, music and special events, Factory International builds on the legacy of MIF, one of the world’s leading arts festivals and the first to be entirely focused on the commissioning and producing of ambitious new work. Audiences can enjoy the broadest range of art forms at Aviva Studios—the ultra-flexible new venue designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)—as well as online, internationally and at the city-wide Festival held every other year. Rooted in Manchester, Factory International plays an important role in the lives of Greater Manchester residents, bringing jobs, training and creative opportunities. Through the Factory Academy, Factory International is training the creative workforce of the future, while its pioneering creative engagement and artist development programmes create year-round opportunities for artists and local people.

Dr. Joanna C. Lee (Moderator)

Dr. Joanna C. Lee has served as consultant and translator for such institutions as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and the New York Asian Film Festival. Since 2004, she is the regular host and interpreter at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum. She was a publicity consultant for the “Big Five” American orchestras on their Asian tours as well as consulting producer for San Francisco Opera’s Dream of the Red Chamber. She is currently serving as outreach consultant for multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in New York. She has served as an on-stage interpreter for former US President Jimmy Carter, Chinese director Jia Zhangke and artist Xu Bing, as well as provided opera surtitles for the China National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Beijing Music Festival. She is the English surtitle author for the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre since 2007.

Photo Credit: Lia Chang

• Simultaneous interpretation is available in English, Cantonese and Putonghua.
• Holders of the HKPAX Full Pass, Day Pass and Student Pass can access all sessions of Conversations. Spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Online pre-registration is required.