Jay Lesenger
Artistic/General Director
During his thirty-year career as a stage director, administrator and teacher, Jay Lesenger has become known for intelligent, honest productions which are dramatically compelling and musically sensitive.
Lesenger first came to public attention with his debut at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center when his production of Anna Bolena opened Beverly Sills’ first season as General Director of the New York City Opera. He was soon re-engaged for productions of The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and Street Scene. The breadth of repertoire represented by these early productions represents the range of repertoire that has become a signature element of Lesenger’s almost 200 production directing career, spanning from the Classical period through Bel Canto and to opera works by the most important composers of our time.
As Artistic/General Director and principal stage director of Chautauqua Opera since the1995 season, he has personally directed forty productions for the Company. He introduced the Chautauqua audience to significant nineteenth and twentieth-century works including Vanessa (Barber), Two Widows (Smetana), and the American musicals A Little Night Music (Sondheim), and She Loves Me (Bock & Harnick). He also has produced for the first time at Chautauqua overlooked Italian masterpieces: Macbeth and Stiffelio by Verdi and Maria Stuarda by Donizetti. New productions of La Bohème, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Falstaff, Gianni Schicchi/Sister Angelica, Hansel & Gretel, La Rondine, La Traviata, Regina, Susannah, The Ballad of Baby Doe, The Elixir of Love, The Tales of Hoffmann, Tosca, and Werther have been audience and critical highlights or their respective seasons. His innovative production of Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos has been produced in Atlanta, Chautauqua, Virginia and Milwaukee where it was telecast on PBS from the Florentine Opera.
Operetta and musical theater are staples of a Chautauqua Opera summer season and new productions of The Pirates of Penzance, The Merry Widow, Fiddler on the Roof, Meredith Willson’s The Music Man and Once Upon a Mattress have drawn delighted audiences to Norton Hall. In recent seasons a co-production relationship with Opera Boston has resulted in shared productions of The Crucible, Lucrezia Borgia and The Gondoliers between Opera Boston and Chautauqua Opera with Mr. Lesenger staging the first two.
Not only is Mr. Lesenger in demand in his native New York, but his reputation has led to important engagements in opera companies nationwide. His San Diego Opera directing debut was Werther where he was re-engaged for productions of Turandot, Lohengrin and Anna Bolena. Also in California, he directed Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci followed by Samson et Dalilah, The Magic Flute and most recently Brundibar (Krasa) and Der Rosenkavalier for Opera Pacific. Pittsburgh Opera audiences enjoyed his productions of Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. His production of The Magic Flute was also seen in Detroit at Michigan Opera Theatre, as was his Samson et Dalilah.
In 2003, Jay Lesenger was pleased to be invited by New Orleans Opera to be part of the creative team to realize the world premiere of Thea Musgrave’s opera based on the life of the Baroness Di Pontalbo. The opera was commissioned as part of the commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. He has also directed The Ballad of Baby Doe, The Magic Flute, Lucia di Lammermoor, Salome and Die Walküre in New Orleans. Baby Doe and Walküre garnered Best Opera Production awards for their respective seasons. He returns there this fall for Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.
In addition, the Stage Director has produced operas for companies ranging geographically from Hawaii to North Carolina and Michigan to Texas including appearances at Columbus Opera, Kentucky Opera, Knoxville Opera, Mobile Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Omaha, Orlando Opera, among others.
Mr. Lesenger made his European debut directing Puccini’s La Bohème for Opera Nordfjord in Eid, Norway. He has since returned to Norway for productions of The Marriage of Figaro and Eugene Onegin. His production of Carmen will open the new opera house in Nordfjord in 2009.
Upcoming productions for the 79th summer include new productions of: Cosi Fan Tutte , Street Scene and Chautauqua Opera’s first opera by Czeck composer Leos Janacek, The Cunning Little Vixen.
A dedicated Manhattan resident, Jay is a nationally recognized teacher of acting for singers and for five years was an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor, where he directed the School of Music Opera Theatre. He is a member of the Board of Directors of OPERA America and is a frequent adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
The Stage Director holds a Masters degree from Indiana University and a Bachelors of Music & Theater degree from Hofstra University.