R.B. Schlather is an American artist and opera director known for immersive installations and unconventional stagings that challenge the boundaries of traditional opera. His productions have been praised for their ability to question norms and create fresh, engaging experiences for audiences. In 2023, The New York Times profiled him as a rare American opera director bringing “fresh visions to Europe’s opera stages.”
In the 25/26 season, Schlather returns to Oper Frankfurt for a new production of Cimarosa’s Amor vien dal destino, to The Santa Fe Opera for a revival of his Rodelinda, and to Rice University for a new production of Die Zauberflöte. He will also direct a revival of Vanessa in New York City. Looking ahead, he will make his debut at Den Norske Opera & Ballett in Oslo, Norway.
Last season, he returned to Oper Frankfurt for a new production of Verdi’s Macbeth, conducted by Thomas Guggeis and starring Nicholas Brownlee and Tamara Wilson. His previous work for Oper Frankfurt includes Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (2022, 2023), Cimarosa’s L’Italiana in Londra (2021, 2024)—released on Blu-ray/DVD by Naxos—and Handel’s Tamerlano (2019, 2022). Schlather also directed a new co-production of Barber’s Vanessa with Williamstown Theatre Festival and Heartbeat Opera, as well as Giulio Cesare—the second installment of his ongoing Handel series with Hudson Hall and early music band Ruckus.
Other recent highlights include a double bill of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia for the Shepherd School of Music with conductor Ben Manis, and a critically acclaimed Rodelinda (New York Times Critic’s Pick, 2023) commissioned by Hudson Hall. Rodelinda marked the first of a series of Handel productions commissioned for the historic theater, continuing Schlather’s long-standing interest in presenting the composer’s works in alternative spaces. Earlier Handel projects include Alcina (2014) and Orlando (2015), presented as live-streamed process art installations in Lower East Side galleries (New York Times: “a valuable project that deserves enthusiastic support,” “a gift given to the NY cultural scene”), and Ariodante (2016), which was developed as an open-process salon during his artist residency at National Sawdust and later presented at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art as part of Opera Omaha’s ONE Festival. In 2019, he made his European debut at Oper Frankfurt with an immersive, site-specific production of Tamerlano at the Bockenheimer Depot, a critical and audience success that was revived for the 22/23 season.
Career highlights include Così fan tutte at The Santa Fe Opera with Harry Bicket (“Revelation of the summer season” – Wall Street Journal), Fluxconcert for the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall co-curated with conductor Christopher Rountree (New Yorker Magazine Best Performances 2018), The Mother of Us All at Hudson Opera House (New York Times Best Opera of 2017), the world premiere of David Hertzberg’s The Wake World for The Barnes Foundation as part of Opera Philadelphia’s inaugural O Festival (Best New Opera 2017 – Music Critics Association of North America), John Adams’ Doctor Atomic at Curtis Opera Theater, Philip Glass’ Madrigal Opera at National Sawdust, In The Penal Colony at Boston Lyric Opera (New York Times Best Performances 2015), and Salome at Bard’s Fisher Center with Leon Botstein.
Schlather has directed productions for Oper Frankfurt, The Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gran Teatre del Liceu, National Sawdust, Fisher Center Bard, Tanglewood Music Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Omaha, Wolf Trap Opera, Curtis Institute of Music, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, IlluminArts, and presented work at Perez Art Museum Miami, The School | Jack Shainman Gallery, Barnes Foundation, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Bockenheimer Depot, Hudson Opera House, Bemis Center for the Arts, White Box Art Center, and Boston Center for the Arts.
He has been featured in interviews with The New York Times, San Francisco Classical Voice, Out Magazine, New Yorker Magazine, Huffington Post, Upstate Diary, I Care if You Listen, Clyde Fitch Report, VAN Magazine, WQXR Radio, and podcasts for Basilica Hudson and IndieOpera. He was an Artist-in-Residence at National Sawdust for the 16/17 season and an Emerging Artist with Boston Lyric Opera in 14/15. Schlather has taught at the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and Ithaca College, where he earned a BA in Art History with a minor in Drama.
2025-2026
