Director From San Francisco Opera To Lead Glimmerglass As Of Sept. 1

3-19-10

By BENJAMIN DEER : COOPERSTOWN

A world-renown and international director of opera and theater will soon have a home in Cooperstown.
Francesca Zambello is currently the artistic adviser of the San Francisco Opera.  However, on Sept. 1, she will arrive here as general and artistic director of the Glimmerglass Opera, replacing Michael MacLeod, who will be completing his fifth and final season this summer.
“Glimmerglass seems to be an ideal location.  I really respect what they’ve done.  It’s a beautiful facility, the venue is fantastic, and it’s in a gorgeous part of New York State, which I love,” she said in an interview from California.
This will not be Zambello’s first time at Glimmerglass:  She directed “Iphigenie en Tauride” on Otsego Lake’s shores back in 1997.
 “I have had the joy of knowing Francesca for many years, of working with her on several productions, and of witnessing her extraordinary talents and intelligence up close,” said Sherwin Goldman, president of the Glimmerglass Board of Trustees.  “We cannot have made a better choice.”
    Zambello’s work has been seen in many places around the world.  Some of the venues include the Metropolitan Opera, the Munich Staatsoper, the Paris Opera, and the English National Opera.  She has also staged plays and musicals on Broadway, at the Royal National Theater, Vienna’s Raimund Theater, and at the Kennedy Center.  
She attended the University of Moscow, and graduated from Colgate University in 1978.