Stage Director Peter Kazaras currently serves as Director of Opera at UCLA. Previously, he was the Artistic Director of the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program. In his career as a performer, Kazaras received worldwide acclaim as an operatic tenor, performing at the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, and Weiner Staatsoper, to name a few. For his direction of Le nozze di Figaro at Seattle Opera in May of 2022, Broadway World wrote, “Kazaras made the most of the ingenious opera’s comedic opportunities throughout the evening and captured the Rossini-like chaos and confusion of the act-ending ensembles with aplomb. As always, Kazaras excelled in the small touches that came off as waggish and witty yet subtle…”  Recently, Kazaras directed the Music Academy of the West’s production of Eugene Onegin and returned to the Washington National Opera to direct La bohème.

In addition to his work at UCLA, where he produced the world première of Lost Childhood and Juana, Mr. Kazaras recently directed Washington National Opera’s Samson et Dalila, as well as Turn of the Screw with Seattle Opera; The Ghost of Versailles with Chautauqua Opera; Bernstein’s A Quiet Place with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood; Der Ring des Polykrates for Dallas Opera; Il barbiere di Siviglia and Le nozze di Figaro for Washington National Opera; La bohème for Los Angeles Opera, The Dallas Opera, and Washington National Opera; The Consul and the world première of An American Dream for Seattle Opera; Cendrillon for The Julliard School; The Rape of Lucretia, a double-bill of Gianni Schicchi/The Medium and La serva padrona/Holst’s Savitri/Walton’s The Bear for the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera; and La gazza ladra and the world première of a revised version of An American Tragedy for The Glimmerglass Festival. Additionally, he frequently gives master classes for the Washington National Opera Young Artists Program and Glimmerglass Opera. 2020 engagements were to include directing La bohéme with Washington National Opera and Seattle Opera.

Of a production of Norma with the Seattle Opera, The Seattle Times said “his direction was remarkably good, theatrical and natural at the same time.” Likewise, of a production of Le nozze di Figaro for the Seattle Opera Young Artist program, he was praised for his “robust and lively” direction and his “clever, fast-paced staging” with reviewers noting that “Staging [Le nozze di Figaro] is a considerable challenge, one to which Kazaras adroitly rises. A dozen sly little gestures quickly establish character — and you can see every one of those gestures in the intimate ambience of the theater.”

Over the past fifteen years, he directed over twenty productions for Seattle Opera’s main stage and Young Artists Program, plus productions for Opera Cleveland, Madison Opera, Eos Orchestra, Red: {an Orchestra}, the Santa Fe Pro Musica, and festivals at Cabrillo and Caramoor. He directed for educational programs such as Merola at San Francisco Opera Center, the Wolf Trap summer program, the Chautauqua Institute Voice Department, the Academy of Vocal Arts, the Hartt College of Music, and Florida State University. At UCLA since 2007, he has directed, supervised or produced over twenty-five productions during his tenure, most recently directing Cendrillon.

A frequent panelist on the Toll Brothers Metropolitan Opera Quiz, Mr. Kazaras is also in demand as a judge for international competitions. He has adjudicated all three iterations of the International Wagner Competition at Seattle Opera. He was a judge for the first Elardo International Competition in New York, Marilyn Horne’s competition at Music Academy of the West, the José Iturbi Voice Competition at UCLA, the Les Azuriales Festival in Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat in France, and has adjudicated twice at The Juilliard School. He has also served as a judge for District and Regional Auditions of the Metropolitan Opera National Council. In the summer of 2015, he returned to Les Azuriales Festival as a Master Teacher. In 2016 he taught in Busseto, Italy at Aprile Millo’s Operavision Academy. Peter Kazaras is a member of the Glimmerglass Festival Artistic Advisory Board as well as the New York Festival of Song Advisory Board.