What Does a Dramaturg Do?

Cori Ellison explains what Dramaturgs do – and do not – do to assist a production team to interpret and mount an opera.

About the Speaker:  Cori Ellison, a leading creative figure in the opera world, has served as staff dramaturg at the Santa Fe Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, and New York City Opera (NYCO). Active in developing contemporary opera, she is a founding faculty member and mentor at American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program and has developed new operatic works for companies including Glyndebourne, Icelandic Opera, Canadian Opera, Norwegian Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Chicago Opera Theater, Arizona Opera, Opera Birmingham, Pittsburgh Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, On-Site Opera, the Miller Theater, Indiana University Opera Theater, and Crane School of Music. She has served as production dramaturg for projects including Das Rheingold at Los Angeles Philharmonic; L’incoronazione di Poppea at Cincinnati Opera; Orphic Moments at the Salzburg Landestheater, National Sawdust, and Master Voices; Aci, Galatea, e Polifemo at National Sawdust and Philharmonia Baroque; Washington National Opera’s Ring cycle; Opera Boston’s The Nose; Offenbach!!! at Bard Summerscape; and La finta giardiniera at Indiana University. At Juilliard, Ellison serves on the Vocal Arts faculty, and she has coached and taught master classes for singers at schools including Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Cincinnati College-Conservatory, University of Toronto, University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, Michigan State University, Mannes College, DePaul University, University of Illinois, Loyola University, Montclair State University, and University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She serves as judge for the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Concurso San Miguel in Mexico, Wagner Society of New York, and other vocal competitions. She creates supertitles for opera companies worldwide and helped launch Met Titles, the Met’s simultaneous translation system. Her English singing translations include Hansel and Gretel (NYCO), La vestale (English National Opera) and Shostakovich’s Cherry Tree Towers (Bard Summerscape). Ellison has written for the New York Times and has contributed to books including The New Grove Dictionary of Opera and The Compleat Mozart.

The event will be followed by a social hour with refreshments.