San Francisco Classical Voice“For this Don Giovanni, director Alek Shrader, who also directed Così, impressively balanced the comic and tragic elements of the story and carefully delineated the class dynamics…Shrader chose a traditional staging, with the characters in 18th-century clothing. It’s funny without being gratuitously jokey, serious without being grim. Shrader brings plenty of nuance to each character; for example, Donna Elvira’s fury at Don Giovanni for deserting her is very neatly balanced with subtle — and sometimes not so subtle — longing to once again be in his arms. In addition, under his direction, the large cast, chorus, and supers form a coherent dramatic ensemble, with excellent timing and interrelationships.”
cordellreportsdotcom“Opera San José has produced a stunning version of this wonderful opera under the able direction of Alek Shrader. The casting and performances are outstanding with a production design to match.”
OperaWire“Shrader’s restless, stage-prowling prankster was as technically stunning as Fuchs. A superb and subtle actor with indefatigable vocal technique, he was able to finesse an encyclopedia of melismas while mounting a ladder; while turning somersaults; while climbing out of the top window of a toilet stall (you need to be there!); and with a cigarette between his teeth! His adroit comic agency formed the visual and vocal counterpoint to some of the opera’s most beautiful arias.”
SF Classical Voice“… tenor Alek Shrader as the king’s advisor, Arbace, must be mentioned. Hume has him deliver one of the two arias Mozart wrote for the character, and the opportunity paid off, as Shrader sang with the confidence and tonal sweetness for which he has been noted.”
Bachtrack” Tenor Alek Shrader did his best to wrest Iago from one-dimensionality, suggesting ulterior motives for the character’s heinous acts beyond simply pure evil. His pliant tenor, always marvelously secure, has taken on a darker coloring that suited the role.”
Broadway World“Tenor Alek Shrader sings Dan White, the Irish-American ex-fireman, ex-cop, who subtly dogs Milk throughout the story–and, in the end, kills him. Shrader uses the librettist’s leniency to make White a not entirely unsympathetic character. And his lovely drifts into the classic Irish tenor mode are refreshing.”
ReviewSTL“While act one mostly belongs to Glass, the second act is all about Alek Shrader. As the real-life nemesis of Milk, Shrader is tasked with being narrowminded, and vulgar. Disdainful and despicable as White, Shrader makes an excellent villain. Playing a man who relishes duking it out with his colleagues, he is a searing force onstage. Watching Milk’s agenda slowly eat away at White, Shrader simmers until he explodes into an eruption of emotional intensity.
As Shrader’s scenes with Glass unfold, this commanding pairing transforms a distressing work into a powerful production. Gripping and violent in their physical and emotional confrontations, the tandem fills the drama with heavy portions of interpersonal conflict. Feeding off of each other’s magnetic performances, they are simply unstoppable.”
Director Alek Shrader brings an extensive background as an internationally acclaimed tenor to his work on the operatic stage, with projects spanning stage direction, film, interdisciplinary performance, and visual storytelling.
In 26/27, Shrader directs a new production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni for Opera San Jose and Florida Grand Opera. On the stage, he returns to San Francisco Opera for Le nozze di Figaro (Basilio). He also continues his work with the Manetti Shrem Opera Program at Festival Napa Valley, where he serves on the faculty working with emerging professional singers. Shrader’s directing credits include productions for Opera San Jose, Charlottesville Opera, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the University of Notre Dame.
Eager to share his passion for the art form with the next generation, he has held positions in academia and administration. He has held positions with the Merola Opera Program, San Francisco Opera, and currently serves as Director of Development for Opera San Jose. He has adjudicated for the Marilyn Horne Song Competition and regularly gives masterclasses in acting and stage direction. At the University of Notre Dame, he served as Artistic Director of Opera Notre Dame and taught voice.
Shrader has also developed a body of work exploring opera through film and other forms of visual storytelling. For the Curtis Institute of Music, he co-wrote and co-directed MERCY, an opera film based on Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and subsequently adapted and directed Blitzstein’s Triple-Sec & Menotti’s The Medium. In partnership with Arizona Opera, he created Carmen: The Graphic Novel, collaborating with comic-book artists P. Craig Russell and Aneke. He is currently adapting Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia as a toy theater with an illustrated libretto.
Shrader made his professional directorial debut in 2019 with Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, presented as part of the acclaimed Concerts in the Catacombs series at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. The site-specific production interwove Purcell’s opera with excerpts from Christopher Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage.
As a tenor, Shrader has appeared with many of the world’s leading opera companies, including The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, The Dallas Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Canadian Opera Company, Bayerische Staatsoper, Salzburger Festspiele, and Glyndebourne Festival. On the concert stage, he has appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. As a recitalist, he has been presented by Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Performances, and Wigmore Hall, among others. His discography includes the GRAMMY-nominated album Mademoiselle – Première Audience: Unknown Music of Nadia Boulanger. He participated in the Metropolitan Opera’s documentary The Audition, and is often called on to record pre-performance talks and narration.
Shrader is a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a recipient of a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. He is an alumnus of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program and Adler Fellowship, a former Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and holds degrees in Voice and Opera from Oberlin College and Conservatory and in Music Education from Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
2026-2027
11.25.19
