Check out some of Alison’s recent work for the operatic stage, including her debut directing live action in Virtual Reality!
Meet Alison
American stage director Alison Moritz has quickly garnered a reputation for her innovative interpretations of the classic repertoire and her equally incisive takes on contemporary operas. Alison’s recent projects have been lauded as “raw, funny, surreal, and disarmingly human,” “elegantly sexy” and “singularly American” by Opera News and as “enchantingly cheeky” by the Washington Post.
Alison’s upcoming 2022-2023 season includes a landmark celebratory 50th Anniversary performance of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS at the Kennedy Center starring Will Liverman and conducted by James Gaffigan, as well as house directing debuts at Edmonton Opera (Tosca) and the Atlanta Opera (Candide), and a return to Austin Opera to direct Les pêcheurs de perles. In fall 2022, Alison makes her television debut directing the experimental Everything for Dawn, an original ten-episode opera airing on WNET and All Arts.
Alison served as the Interim Managing Artistic Director of Opera at Peabody Conservatory during the 2021-2022 season, where she spearheaded the socially conscious “Opera in Action” initiative. Other recent projects include mainstage directing debuts at Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Omaha, Ravinia, and Portland Opera.
Committed to contemporary American repertoire, Alison has directed several world premieres including Proving Up (Mazzoli/Vavrek; Washington National Opera), Taking Up Serpents (Sankaram/Dye; Washington National Opera), The Knock (Vrebalov/Brevoort; Glimmerglass), and Chunky in Heat (Experiments in Opera, NYC). Her production of Kevin Puts/Mark Campbell’s The Manchurian Candidate was nominated for seven Austin Critic’s Table awards and won four, including Best Production. She has also workshopped pieces by David Hertzberg and Rene Orth for Opera Philadelphia, and her multidisciplinary works include projects in film and Virtual Reality.
Alison’s additional professional credits include directing engagements New Orleans Opera Association, Madison Opera, Central City Opera, and Opera Santa Barbara. She has also served on the directing staff at Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Minnesota Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera. She continues her ongoing collaborations with innovative orchestras The Knights and Contemporaneous and her affiliation with the Kurt Weill Foundation. She holds a B.A. in Music and Art History from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.M. from Eastman School of Music.
Portfolio
"Alison Moritz directs the evening, and her use of the Williams Stables space is both sensitive and bold. She presents the two operas, the nostalgic dream fantasy and the broad soap opera comedy, with obvious care and affection, placing her singer-actors in the best light..."
Wtih the National Symphony Orchestra; The concluding event of Kennedy Center’s 50th Anniversary year, Leonard Bernstein’s MASS returns 51 years after its world premiere at the Center’s 1971 opening gala. Directed by Alison Moritz, this monumental work will be re-staged in the Concert Hall and feature the NSO and conductor James Gaffigan along with 2020 Marian Anderson Award winner Will Liverman as the Celebrant. For this momentous project, Alison reunites with frequent collaborators Aaron Copp (lighting and production design) and Lynly Saunders (costume design). Hope Boykin joins the team as choreographer.
As timeless as ever, Tosca portrays a world where lovers and artists face tyranny and evil, with some of the most famous music ever composed. Alison makes her Canadian debut directing Puccini’s beloved “shabby little shocker” under the auspices of Joel Ivany, Edmonton Opera’s new artistic director.
The innocent Candide discovers that human beings aren’t all they are cracked up to be and ultimately focuses on building his own life on his own terms. Featuring modern classics “Glitter and Be Gay,” “Make our Garden Grow,” and a rip-roaring Overture for the ages, Candide makes its company debut in Atlanta directed by Alison Moritz, who previously created a critically-acclaimed version of the work for the Leonard Bernstein centennial celebrations at Tanglewood and Ravinia.
Contact
Get in touch! Feel free to message Alison directly. If you like pictures of coffee shops and tech tables, you can also follow Alison on Instagram!
