University Opera Theatre
About the Director

David Walsh, associate professor of opera, is the director of University Opera Theatre. After graduating in political science and economics, he studied theatre science at the University of Toronto. His career has taken him to such opera houses as the Paris Opera (Fidelio: Ozawa, Behrens, Vickers), the Royal Opera House, London, and the Netherlands Opera, Amsterdam. He has been a resident stage director with Scottish Opera, Frankfurt Opera, and Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. Walsh has directed opera in North America, Europe, China, Japan, and Israel. With a professional career spanning more than 25 years and two continents, Walsh has successfully combined the artistic flair expected of a director and teacher with the organizational and management abilities required of an administrator.
Past Opera Theatre Seasons
- Fall 2019: Carmen's Tragedy
- Spring 2019: The Consul and Four Acts From Grand Opera
- Fall 2018: Albert Herring
- Spring 2018: Jacques Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld
- Fall 2017: W.A. Mozart’s Idomeneo
- Spring 2017: Giacomo Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi
- Fall 2016: Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia
- Spring 2016: Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark
- Fall 2015: Carlisle Floyd's Susannah
- Spring 2015: WA Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro
- Fall 2014: Georges Bizet's La Tragedie de Carmen
- Spring 2014: Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen (The Adventures of Vixen Sharp Ears)
- Fall 2013: Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride
- Spring 2013: Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Nights Dream
- Fall 2012: Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff
- Spring 2012: Robert Aldridge's Parables
- Fall 2011: WA Mozart's Così fan tutte
- Spring 2011: Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus
- Fall 2010: Robert Aldridge's Elmer Gantry
- Spring 2010: WA Mozart's Die Zauberflöte
- Fall 2009: Stravinsky in Paris: Le Renard (The Fox), Mavra, and Le Rossignol
- Spring 2009: Leoš Janáček's Jenůfa
- Fall 2008: Benjamin Britten's Rape of Lucretia
- Spring 2008: Claudio Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea
- Fall 2007: Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins and Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica
- Spring 2007: Kurt Weill's Street Scene
- Fall 2006: WA Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro
- Spring 2006: Giacomo Puccini's La Bohéme
- Fall 2005: Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw
- Spring 2005: WA Mozart's Don Giovanni
- Fall 2004: Francis Poulenc's La Voix Humaine and Giacomo Puccini's Gianni Schicchi
- Spring 2004: Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman
- Fall 2003: Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring
- Spring 2003: Conrad Susa's The Dangerous Liaisons
- Fall 2002: Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos
Learn more about the Vocal Arts at the University of Minnesota.