Circa’s Yaron Lifschitz Announced as Recipient of ISPA’s 2025 Distinguished Artist Award

Circa’s Artistic Director and CEO Yaron Lifschitz has been announced as the recipient of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) 2025 Distinguished Artist Award.

One of the world’s most prestigious performing arts prizes, the Distinguished Artist Award is presented to artists who have made an outstanding contribution of talent, artistry, dedication and service to the world of the performing arts.

Previous international recipients include Angelique Kidjo, Taylor Mac, Peter Brook CH, CBE, Robert Lepage, Mark Morris, Laurie Anderson, Pina Bausch, Emerson String Quartet and others.

Previous Australian artists who have won the award are Jack Charles (2022), Archie Roach AC (2016), Peter Sculthorpe (2001), Dame Joan Sutherland (1994) and Mandawuy Yunupingu AC (1994).

Yaron Lifschitz is the first Queenslander to win the award. Announcing the Award IPSA said, “Yaron Lifschitz is, a visionary and arguably one of the leading artistic entrepreneurs of the day. His commitment to circus arts and the development of future generations of circus artists is manifested through his work with CIRCA and the many regions within which he works.”

Circa’s Artistic Director and CEO Yaron Lifschitz responded, “To hail from Brisbane, to work in the medium of circus and to receive an award whose previous recipients have included Peter Brook, Pina Bausch, Angelique Kidjo, Leonard Bernstein and Dame Joan Sutherland is as overwhelming as it is improbable. It is testament to the superlative Circa team. I am honoured to receive this award as a recognition of our work together – creating circus that moves the world.”

The award will be presented at a ceremony to be held during the ISPA 2025 New York Congress: Leading with Creativity, on Thursday, January 16, 2025, at The Times Center in New York City.
 
Yaron Lifschitz is a graduate of the University of New South Wales, University of Queensland, and National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), where he was the youngest director ever accepted into its prestigious graduate director’s course. Since graduating, Yaron has directed over 80 productions including large-scale events, opera, theatre, physical theatre, and circus.

His work has been seen in over forty-five countries and across six continents by nearly two million people and has won numerous awards including six Helpmann awards and the Australia Council Theatre Award. He is currently Artistic Director and CEO of Circa and was Creative Director of Festival 2018: the arts and cultural program of the 21st Commonwealth Games.
 
Circa is one of the world’s leading performance companies.  Since 2004, from their base in Brisbane, Australia, they have toured the world – performing in more than 45 countries to nearly two million people. Their works have been greeted with standing ovations, rave reviews and sold-out houses across six continents.

Circa is at the forefront of the new wave of contemporary Australian circus – pioneering how extreme physicality can create powerful and moving performances. They continue to push the boundaries of the art form, blurring the lines between movement, dance, theatre and circus.   

Opera Queensland and Circa perform Dido and Aeneas dress rehearsal Playhouse Theatre QPAC