Biography

Jose Maria Condemi (staging), Artistic Director of Opera Santa Barbara, has directed productions throughout North America, including Carmen, Faust, Madama Butterfly, L’elisir d’amore, and Tosca at San Francisco Opera, where he returns next season to direct Così fan tutte and the world premiere of Nolan Gasser’s The Secret Garden. In recent years he has directed Simon Boccanegra for the Teatro Colón in his native Argentina, Ernani and Tristan und Isolde for Lyric Opera of Chicago, and productions at Seattle Opera, Opera Colorado, and Canadian Opera Company. His staging of Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias for the University of Cincinnati earned him first prize in the 2000 USA National Opera Association competition. Mr. Condemi is a former Adler Fellow in stage direction with San Francisco Opera. A Fulbright Scholar, he is also a recipient of the Argentina National Endowment for the Arts Awards. He received his undergraduate degree in opera stage direction at the Teatro Colón and completed a master’s degree in directing at the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music.