Biography

Ken Cazan, associate professor, vocal arts, and Opera Stage Director, has directed more than 120 productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and plays for opera and theatre companies throughout the U.S., Italy, Canada and Mexico. He is a regular guest of the Santa Fe Opera, Atlanta Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Seattle Opera, Central City Opera, Austin Lyric Opera and Portland Opera, to name a few. Significant productions include the first fully staged American productions of Handel’s Agrippina and Mozart’s Mitridate re di Ponto. Other premieres included the first production by an American opera company of Britten’s Gloriana and also Lady Be Good by the Gershwins for Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Italy, which marked the first new production of a musical staged by  an Italian opera company which was broadcast internationally by RAI, ITaly. Known for tackling obscure repertoire, Mr. Cazan is renowned for his staging of many of Benjamin Britten’s operas, operas by Richard Strauss and more standard repertoire including various works by Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Hagen, Handel, Gounod, Glass and many others. Recent engagements included Elektra and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (director and co-set designer) for Austin Lyric Opera, Paul Bunyan (director and set designer) for Central City Opera, and  Agrippina, The Rakes Progress, and Cendrillon for University of Southen California. Upcoming productions include The Barber of Seville for Opera Theatre of St. Louis, L'incoronazione di Poppea for Central City Opera, and the World Premiere of Miss Lonelyhearts by Lowell Liebermann and J.D. McClatchey which has been commissioned to commemorate the Juiliiard School's 100th anniversary. This production marks a first ever co-production between three major American music schools: the Juilliard School, USC, and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.


Video Interviews with Ken Cazan:
About Ken Cazan
Staging an Opera
Being a Custodian of the Opera Tradition
Teaching Singers to Act
Staging Operas in Modern Contexts
How to Enter the World of Opera
Opera Directors Ken Cazan Admires
Source of Creative Energy
Appeal of Opera in the Original Language

Professional Experience

Current Professional Affiliation(s):
see biography

Academic Degrees

• BFA, Acting/Directing/Dance, Syracuse University, 1979