James Marvel

Internationally acclaimed stage director James Marvel made his Lincoln Center debut in 2008 for the Juilliard Opera Center and directed the U.S. premiere of Cavalli’s Eliogabalo for the Gotham Chamber Opera in NYC.

Since his professional directing debut in 1996, Marvel has directed over 100 productions and was named Classical Singer Magazine’s “2008 – Stage Director of the Year.” Career highlights include groundbreaking new productions for the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Opera Boston, Opera Santa Barbara, Syracuse Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, San Antonio Opera, Kentucky Opera, Virginia Opera, North Carolina Opera, Toledo Opera, Sacramento Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, Indiana University, and the University of Southern California.

International credits include a new production of Carmen for Opera Africa in Johannesburg and a new production of Die Zauberflöte for the Seoul International Opera in South Korea. European credits include productions of La bohème, Suor Angelica, L’elisir d’amore, and Così fan tutte in Italy. Marvel made his Paris debut with the The Man of La Mancha at the Theatre des Varietes and returned to Paris a year later to direct The Beggar’s Holiday at Espace Pierre Cardin. His new production of La voix humaine and The Telephone premiered at the Alliance Francaise in New York City before traveling to the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, Belgium. In 2017, Marvel directed Dead Man Walking for Opera on the Avalon in Newfoundland, Canada. Other international credits include work in Scotland, England, Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.

In 2014, Marvel directed the world premiere of Larry Delinger’s new opera, Amelia Lost, which was created for Marble City Opera and performed at The National Opera Center in New York and at Cleveland Opera Theatre. The production was named “Most Memorable Operatic Performance of 2014,” by Arts Knoxville.

Marvel received the MFA in Acting from the University of Tennessee and the BA in World Literature from Sarah Lawrence College and Oxford University, England. He conducted additional studies at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.