World-renowned director and impressaria Francesca Zambello will discuss the design and direction process of how an opera comes together. In this very special event, she will share thoughts on how rehearsing Wagner is different from all other composers, and what it’s like working with singers, conductors, and designers on his works. Following there will be a visual presentation about the highly anticipated new staging of Tannhäuser she will direct at the Houston Grand Opera in the spring of 2025.
Zambello has served as the Artistic Director of Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center since 2013. She is also the Artistic & General Director of the Glimmerglass Festival, Emerita. She served as the Artistic Advisor to the San Francisco Opera from 2005 to 2011. Her monumental production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at SFO (2011 & 2018) was a landmark for local Wagnerians.