Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

Brian Staufenbiel has been the creative director and stage director for Opera Parallèle where he has directed and spearheaded the conceptual designs of the companies’ productions since it was founded in 2010. Specializing in multimedia, immersive, and interdisciplinary productions, he actively works across a wide range of artistic disciplines collaborating with film and media designers, choreographers and dancers, circus and fabric artists, and designer fabricators. His progressive approach to stagecraft has garnered critical acclaim for many of the company’s productions, including Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, O’Regan’s Heart of Darkness,  Harbison’s The Great Gatsby,  Glass’ Orphée and Les Enfant Terribles, Golijov’s Ainadamar, Gorb’s Anya 17, Berg’s Wozzeck, Davies’ The Lighthouse, Blanchard’s Champion and Dove’s Flight. This last season, Staufenbiel lead two new productions for Opera Parallèle, Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti with Heggie’s At the Statue of Venus. Next season he will be directing, and is dramaturge for, the world premiere of Today it Rains by Laura Kaminsky and librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed.

Staufenbiel is currently working on a new production design of Thomas Ades’ The Tempest and recently created a new production of Das Rheingold for Minnesota Opera in Fall 2016. Other recent projects include a new production of Gordon Getty’s Usher House and Canterville Ghost for the Center of Contemporary Opera in NY and LA Opera. He directed and was dramaturge for the world premiere production of Sophia’s Forest by composer Lembit Beecher and librettist Hannah Moscovitch performed in Philadelphia in Fall 2017.

Staufenbiel directed the World Premiere of Angel Heart by Luna Pearl Woolf which was performed at Cal Performances in Berkeley, Carnegie Hall, and Festival del Sole in Sonoma. In addition to opera, Staufenbiel also brings his unique brand of experimental staging to theater, and has shared a residency at Banff with composer Luna Pearl Woolf to create an original theater piece - Mélange à Trois- premiered in Montréal. 

Staufenbiel enjoys working as a dramaturge for dance companies and will be working with Chorographer KT Nelson for the ODC Dance Company in Winter 2018 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. He has curated and created several art installations to accompany and enhance his productions with audience immersive experiences.  Staufenbiel holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music and currently resides in San Francisco.