I love my job,  I love my job as an Opera Stage Director because it allows me to exercise empathy everyday.

 

I enjoy the “travel into the mind” of a character and explore the “why” behind the character’s motivations, their struggles, the things that prevent them to be successful at communicating their feelings.. the question of what they actually feel… and most importantly, I enjoy inviting the performers with me in that journey, push their skills to make them discover the depth of talent they were not aware they had and deliver to an audience characters scrutinized in depth. When we have strong layered characters, we tell profoundly human stories everyone can relate to.
I love to stage direct in general but particularly opera because
we can tell these profound stories by leaning on the music.
I love the collaborative work Opera represents..  ultimately all are at the service of the composer, working with a creative team (sets, costumes, lights) and a conductor that serves well the story and the singers is a joy,
But there are more than 250 professions represented in the world of opera, between backstage arts , tech etc..
Opera to me is a team work, where every skill and idea has a place and where the more voices are heard and incorporated in the final project, the more transformative will be the end result for all.
I love my job being an Opera Stage Director because I believe deeply that beauty and excellence are transformative media that can give hope, elevation, enlightenment in our world. I understand leadership as being the servant of all and allow all to strive.. I work hard to implement this notion in my work.
Maria Todaro
General Director, Founder, Stage Director