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 began her career as an assistant director to
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. From 1984 until 1991 she was the artistic director of the Skylight Music Theater with Stephen Wadsworth. 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, festivals and opera houses around the world. Also, she was artistic advisor to the
San Francisco Opera from 2006 until 2011. Between 2011 and 2022, she was artistic and general director of the
Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, and she is currently the artistic director of
Washington National Opera, a post that she has held since 2012. Zambello has 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. She received the San Francisco Opera's Medallion of Honor for her work there over three decades. Other honors for her work include three
Olivier Awards from the London Society of Theaters and two Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical and Best Opera. She has also received the award for Best Company Achievement. The French was awarded to her twice for her work at the
Paris Opera. Other awards include Best Production in Japan, the Palme d'Or in Germany, the Golden Mask in Russia and the
Helpmann Award in Australia. Zambello developed and directed the world premiere of
Christopher Theofanidis'
Heart of a Soldier for the San Francisco Opera, where she was artistic advisor from 2006 to 2011. Other opera projects have included the first international production of
Carmen to ever be presented at the
National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing,
Tobias Picker's
Emmeline for
Santa Fe Opera,
Thérèse for
Dallas Opera, and Picker's
An American Tragedy for the
Metropolitan Opera. Additionally, she mounted productions of
Cyrano and
Les Troyens for the Metropolitan Opera,
Carmen and
Don Giovanni at the
Royal Opera House,
Boris Godunov,
War and Peace,
Billy Budd and
William Tell at the Paris Opera, and
Der Ring des Nibelungen for the San Francisco Opera and the Washington National Opera. Theater projects have included
Show Boat in London at the
Royal Albert Hall as well as for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera; a new musical,
Rebecca, for Vienna's
Raimund Theater, Stuttgart's (presented by
Stage Entertainment), and in St. Gallen, Switzerland;
Tibet Through the Red Box, a new play by
David Henry Hwang for the Seattle Children's Theatre;
The Little Prince with Oscar-winning composer
Rachel Portman;
Napoleon in the
West End;
The Little Mermaid for Disney on Broadway; the musical of
The Little House on the Prairie and
The Master Butchers at the Guthrie Theater, and
Aladdin in Disneyland. For the 2011 Glimmerglass Festival, Zambello,
Terrence McNally, and
Deborah Voigt collaborated to produce the stage show
Voigt Lessons which was revived in 2015 at the Art House in
Provincetown, Massachusetts. Other works have included a film of
Menotti's
Amahl and the Night Visitors for BBC Television, as well as a new film for the BBC, Sony and PBS of
The Little Prince, and
West Side Story for the floating stage at the
Bregenzer Festspiele. Works on DVD include
War and Peace,
Carmen,
The Little Prince,
Street Scene,
Show Boat and
Porgy and Bess. Zambello was a guest professor at
Yale University. Zambello lives in New York City with her wife, attorney Faith E. Gay, and her stepson, Jackson. ==References==