Hans Nieuwenhuis

Stage Directors

Manager: William G. Guerri
Management Territory: Worldwide

About

Hans Nieuwenhuis studied law at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam before devoting his professional life to the theater as an actor, writer and ultimately as a stage director. He assisted several world-renowned opera stage directors, including Götz Friedrich, Harry Kupfer, Lotfi Mansouri, John Copley, John Cox and David Pountney and made his directing debut with The Netherlands Opera in 1978. He was a resident stage director for this company from 1977 -1984 and directed new productions in Amsterdam of “La bohème”, “Parsifal”, “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, . . . “Rita” and “The Old Maid and the Thief” (Menotti). His international career started in 1981 with the staging the USA premiere of Philip Glass' “Satyagraha” for the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Art Park Festival (Lewiston, NY). After that he directed more than 90 productions around the world.

For L'Opera de Nice he staged new productions of “Il turco in Italia” and “Der Zigeunerbaron” and for the Canadian Opera Company he directed “The Return of Ulysses”, “The Tales of Hoffmann”, “La traviata”, Tchaikovsky's “Pique Dame” and several world premiere productions. He also worked extensively with the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble. For San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program and Western Opera Theater he staged a new “Carmen”. This production made an extensive tour throughout the United States and Japan. Mr. Nieuwenhuis returned to the San Francisco Opera to direct a successful production of “The Magic Flute”. Further credits include “Salome” for Opera Colorado, “Fidelio” for Opera Omaha, “The Magic Flute” for the Festival Auvers-sur-Oise (France), “Bluebeards Castle” for Yale Opera, “Cabildo” (composed by Amy Beach, 1932) for Lincoln Center and “Die Fledermaus” for the OK Mozart Festival (Oklahoma) and Opera McGill in Montreal. He directed new productions of “La bohème” for Opera Studio Nederland and Johann Strauss’ “Der Zigeunerbaron” for Pacific Opera Victoria in Canada. In Thailand he directed the world premiere of “Ayodhya” by Somtow Sucharitkul for the Bangkok Opera to international acclaim. His production of Britten’s “Rape of Lucretia” was also created for Bangkok Opera and thereafter performed for a Vietnamese audience in Hanoi. Mr. Nieuwenhuis has collaborated with many renowned conductors, including Richard Bonynge, Christopher Keene, Edo de Waart, Hans Vonk, Nicholas McGegan, Jean Fournet and Ton Koopman. Recent projects included “Dido and Aeneas” for Opera Zuid in Holland and L’Opera Royal de Wallonie in Belgium, “Le Nozze di Figaro” for Hawaii Opera, “Die Fledermaus” for IOP Opera (Netherlands & Belgium) and “Cosi fan tutte” for Opera Studio Nederland.

During the last three decades Hans Nieuwenhuis has devoted himself to aspiring young opera singers: he has taught and directed for the San Francisco Opera Merola and Adler Fellow Program, Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Yale University and Michigan University in the USA, the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble in Toronto and McGill University in Montreal, the music conservatories in Utrecht, Amsterdam and Maastricht in the Netherlands, the conservatories in Yinchuan and Chengdu in China and the Tchaikovsky Conservatorium in Moscow. He is a regular guest teacher at the Opera Studio of the National Theatre in Tokyo and has given (Audition) Master Classes in the Netherlands, USA, Thailand, Russia, Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, France, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Japan, Ukraine and China. Next season Mr. Nieuwenhuis will return to Yale University and will work again with singers of the National Theatre Opera Studio in Tokyo.

He has been a regular jury member at the Vienna Belvedere Competition, the Marmande Competition in France, the Arena di Verona Competition in Italy, the Jeunes Ambassaseurs Lyrique in Canada, the Klaudia Taev Competition in Estonia, the Young Singers Competition in Izmir, Turkey and several other international competitions.

Mr. Nieuwenhuis was founder and, from 1992-2011, General Director of Opera Studio Nederland. The Opera Studio, funded by the Dutch government, offers an extensive training program for a select group of young singers from around the world. Currently Mr. Nieuwenhuis is General Director of the Orfeo Foundation, an international organization established to promote collaboration between young artists programs around the world and to advising young opera singers.

Hans Nieuwenhuis was recently appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for his work in opera, theater and music.

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