Yuval Sharon has amassed an unconventional body of work that expands the operatic form. He is founder and co-Artistic Director of The Industry in Los Angeles and the Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director of Detroit Opera.
In the 2023–24 season, Sharon will present a new site-specific production of John Cage’s Europeras 3&4, staged with Detroit Opera in the historic Gem Theatre in March 2024; a revival of his Cleveland Orchestra production of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, staged with Detroit Opera in May 2024; and his cult classic Die Zauberflöte at Staatsoper Berlin throughout the season.
Sharon made his debut with Detroit Opera in 2020 with Twilight: Gods, an innovative adaptation of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung staged in the Detroit Opera House Parking Center and, with Lyric Opera of Chicago, at the Millennium Lakeside Parking Garage. Since then, he has directed a number of acclaimed productions with the company, including a new production of Ragnar Kjartansson’s 12-hour Bliss, staged in the historic Michigan Building Theatre; Puccini’s La bohème, presented in reverse order in the Detroit Opera House; and The Valkyries—an adaptation of Act III of Die Walküre, first staged with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the Hollywood Bowl, which used green screen technology and projection screens to bring Wagner’s proto-cinematic vision to life in real time.
Beyond his own productions, Sharon’s artistic guidance has transformed the company into a premier destination for progressive opera in the United States. Highlights from his tenure as Artistic Director include a major revival of Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, directed by Robert O’Hara in a co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Metropolitan Opera, Opera Omaha, and Seattle Opera; and its first international co-production, Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, directed by Deborah Colker, with Opera Ventures, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera.
With The Industry, Sharon has directed and produced new operas in moving vehicles, operating train stations, Hollywood sound stages, and various “non-spaces” such as warehouses, parking lots, and escalator corridors. Between 2016–2019, Sharon was the first Artist-Collaborator at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, creating nine projects that included newly commissioned works, site-specific installations, and performances outside the hall. His residency culminated in a new production of Meredith Monk’s opera ATLAS, making him the first director Monk entrusted with her work.
Other recent work from Sharon includes a new production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo, presented at Santa Fe Opera in Summer 2023. In March 2023, Sharon assembled and directed the world premiere production of Proximity, a collection of three new operas by Daniel Bernard Roumain, Caroline Shaw, and John Luther Adams, with Lyric Opera of Chicago.
The first American ever invited to direct at Bayreuth, Sharon distinguished himself with a boldly progressive Lohengrin in 2018. He is the recipient of the 2014 Götz Friedrich Prize in Germany for his production of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic. He also directed a landmark production of John Cage’s Song Books at the San Francisco Symphony and Carnegie Hall with Joan La Barbara, Meredith Monk, and Jessye Norman. His 2016 production of Peter Eötvös's Three Sisters at the Wiener Staatsoper led Opernwelt to call him "one of the most interesting arrivals on the musical landscape." His production of The Cunning Little Vixen, originally produced at the Cleveland Orchestra, was the first fully-staged opera ever presented in Vienna’s Musikverein in October 2017.
In 2017, Sharon was honored with a MacArthur Fellowship and a Foundation for Contemporary Art grant for theater. He was named the 2023 Director of the Year by Musical America.
Management
Sharon Zhu
sharonzhulondon@gmail.com
Publicity
Amanda Ameer
First Chair Promotion
amanda@firstchairpromo.com
The Industry
contact@theindustryla.org
Detroit Opera
Dagny Hill
DHill@detroitopera.org