Francesca Zambello
An internationally recognized director of opera and theater, Francesca Zambello's American debut took place at the Houston Grand Opera with a production of Fidelio in 1984. She debuted in Europe at Teatro la Fenice in Venice with Beatrice di Tenda in 1987 and has since staged new productions at major theaters and opera houses in Europe and the USA. Collaborating with outstanding artists and designers and promoting emerging talent, she takes a special interest in new music theater works, innovative productions, and in producing theater and opera for wider audiences.
Ms. Zambello has recently been awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her contribution to French culture and the Russian Federation's medal for Service to Culture. Other honors for her work include three Olivier Awards from the London Society of Theaters for Khovanshchina (English National Opera), Billy Budd (Royal Opera House, 1995) and Paul Bunyan (Royal Opera House, 1998). Her production of Lady in the Dark (Royal National Theatre, 1997) received the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical she also received the Best Company Achievement for Paul Bunyan (1998). The French Grand Prix des Critiques was awarded to her for Billy Budd (Paris Opera, 1997) and for War and Peace (Paris Opera, 2000). She also was given the Critics Golden Prize for 1999 for Best Production for Dialogues of the Carmelites in Japan. Her production of Street Scene, which played in Berlin at the Theatre des Westens, received the Palme d'Or in Germany and France (1996). Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk for the Australian Opera received the Helpmann Award for best Production of the year in 2002. She received Seattle's Artist of the year in 1991. Her work has also been recognized in a documentary for CBS, a profile in Time Magazine and a documentary on French Arte TV.
Opera works for the past seasons have included Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy, Cyrano de Bergerac and Les Troyens for the Met, Das Rheingold and Porgy and Bess for the Washington Opera, Don Giovanni , Carmen and Cyrano de Bergerac for ROH, Alcina for the New York City Opera, La Boh�me at the Royal Albert Hall; Fiery Angel for the Bolshoi, and Boris Godunov and William Tell at the Paris Opera.
Recent theater projects have included Showboat for the Royal Albert Hall, a new theatrical work conceived for Chanticleer, Tibet Through the Red Box for the Seattle Children's Theatre; The Little Prince with Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman, and Napoleon in the West End. Other recent works have included a film of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, which was transmitted in December 2002 for BBC Television; a new film for the BBC, Sony and PBS of The Little Prince, and West Side Story for the floating stage in Bregenz.
Upcoming works include a co-production The Ring Cycle for Washington National Opera and the San Francisco Opera, Salome at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and a new musical for Disney.
An American who grew up in Europe, she speaks French, Italian, German, and Russian. She attended Moscow University in 1976 and graduated cum laude from Colgate University in 1978. She began her career as an Assistant Director to the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. From 1984-1991 she was the Artistic Director of the Skylight Music Theater. She has been guest professor at Harvard and Berkeley Universities.
Francesca Zambello lives in New York and London.
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