Ben Smith will guide us through the Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak's Designs for Opera and Ballet exhibition with his experiences in the opera industry.
Stage Director Benjamin Wayne Smith has made a career leading new productions ranging from Pergolesi’s La serva padrona to Conrad Susa’s The Dangerous Liasons. He brings a balance of practical experience and innovative storytelling to his projects, which have been hailed by Opera News as “full of comic inventiveness."
Ben has directed for Opera Memphis, Mobile Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Seattle Opera's Young Artist Program, Tacoma Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, The Intermountain Opera Association, the Young Artist Program at Pittsburgh Opera, the University of Cincinnati/CCM, Baldwin Wallace University and The Opera Theater of Lucca, Italy.
Ben joined the faculty at Baldwin Wallace University in 2010 as their first full time Director of Opera. In 2015, he joined the faculty at the University of Memphis.