Cynthia Stokes

Upcoming projects include the launch of her new opera company, San Diego City Opera (www.sdcityopera.org), a new dance theatre piece titled Chagall with Malashock Dance in 2015, Madama Butterfly for Piedmont Opera, fall of 2014 and Dido and Aneneas, winter of 2015 for Opera Piccola. Recent credits include: Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus & Euridice for Opera Piccola where she has just been named Resident Director, South Pacific for Piedmont Opera, Menotti’s The Medium, Robert Xavier Rodriguez La Curandera and Bastien und Bastienne for San Antonio’s Opera Piccola. Ms. Stokes has also just been invited to join the faculty at the Taos Opera Institute for the summer of 2015.

Ms. Stokes has directed for such noted opera companies as San Diego Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Glimmerglass Opera, Piedmont Opera, Opera San Jose, Amarillo Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Carolina, Los Angeles Opera and The Los Angeles Philharmonic. An accomplished theatre director, her work has been seen at American Conservatory Theatre, The Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Diversionary Theatre, North Coast Rep and Wellfleet Actor’s Theatre.

Ms. Stokes came to opera through her experience as a director and dramaturge of new plays. She was a member of Circle Repertory’s Directors Lab in New York, which was devoted to creating new plays for the American theatre. While a graduate student she attended The Minnesota Opera’s New Music Theatre Ensemble, and since then has collaborated with some of America’s most exciting opera artists including: librettist, Toni Morrison and composer, Richard Danielpour on Margaret Garner for Cincinnati Opera and Opera Carolina with international opera star, Denyce Graves. Her production won critical acclaim and performed to sold-out houses. For Los Angeles Opera and Houston Grand Opera she received story credit for her contribution to Edward Barnes Murder at the Opera which is published by Schirmer Music. Ms. Stokes also directed the world premiere of Murder at the Opera for Los Angeles Opera at the Colburn School of Music. Her background of collaborating with writers, composers and visual artists led to Music and Art of Fin-De-Siècle Vienna for The Los Angeles Philharmonic.

"The production of Madama Butterfly by the Opera Company of Philadelphia, which I saw on the last day of its run, was perhaps the most beautiful I’ve ever seen...The denouement was staged with an originality that maintained the opera’s essence..."
Steven Cohen Broad Street Review

Her favorite project was collaborating with librettist, Toni Morrison and composer, Richard Danielpour on Margaret Garner for Opera Carolina with international opera star, Denyce Graves. Her production won critical acclaim and performed to sold-out houses.

"Stage director Cynthia Stokes kept things moving quickly even letting set changes overlap with action…it helped give ‘garner’ an epic scale."
Steven Brown, Charlotte Observer

Ms. Stokes awards and grants include: Opera America, The New Music Theatre Ensemble, The New York Foundation for the Arts, The Lotta Crabtree Grant for Women in the Arts, a National Arts Education Research grant and The Lila Wallace Foundation. She is San Antonio Opera Piccola’s Resident Director and is on the faculty of The Taos Opera Institute. She received her M.F.A. in Directing from The University of California at San Diego.