CHÍA PATIÑO
DIRECTOR
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Ecuador, Chía Patiño’s path has been eclectic; she began as a pianist, continued as a composer, and began a parallel path as a stage director in 1998. For ten years she staged Zarzuela, Musical Theatre, Theatre, and Opera for numerous companies in the United States, Arab Emirates, Egypt, Guatemala, Colombia, and Ecuador. In 2009, she became the Artistic and Executive Director of the National Theatre in Ecuador and in 2019 she returned to the USA to join the Butler School of Musicas an Associate Professor and the Stage Director for the Butler Opera Center in Austin, TX. This year, Patiño will join the faculty of the Department of Voice and Opera at The University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance as an Assistant Professor.
In the upcoming season, Patiño is set to direct La fille du Régiment at Opera Colorado with special guest star Monét X Change, as well as the world premiere of The House on Mango Street at Glimmerglass Opera.
Among her recent opera productions are Tosca, La flauta mágica de los Andes, Faust, Don Giovanni, Transformations, Rusalka, Dido and Aeneas, Carmen, and La Traviata. She has also directed Les Miserables, Spring Awakening, West Side Story, and Sweeney Todd, as well as Luisa Fernanda. She was the music director for Cruzar la cara de la luna, the mariachi opera commissioned and produced by Houston Grand Opera, which she subsequently performed in Paris, San Diego, Phoenix, Fort Worth, El Paso, Chicago, and Houston, as well as the world premiere of the choral version in Quito, Ecuador. In addition, Patiño recently directed Ñomongeta, the first Guarani opera by Paraguayan composer Diego Sanchez-Haase for Opera Hispánica and The Embassy of Paraguay. She has also directed Don Giovanni for Opera Williamsburg and La tragédie de Carmen for Chautauqua Opera.
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In July of 2020, Patiño directed the only live performance (with orchestra and audience) in the USA after the COVID shutdown of March 2020 when the Northern Lights Music Festival produced Tosca for a live audience at the Minnesota Discovery Center Amphitheater.
In 2021, she directed Suite Española: Explorando Iberia for Houston Grand Opera’s HGO Digital, a program sponsored by Sarah and Ernest Butler. She also contributed a video in homage to Daniel Catán for Wise Music Classical and developed the dramaturgy for Dreaming/Undreaming for the Princeton Festival. Additionally, she directed La Cenerentola for Northern Lights Music Festival. Other recent engagements include directing Orfeo ed Euridice for Seattle Opera, Cruzar la cara de la luna for the Butler Opera Center, and Florencia en el Amazonas for Opera de Tenerife.
Patiño is also celebrated for her composition, music direction, and administrative leadership. From 2009- 2019, she was the Artistic and Executive Director of the Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador. Fundación Teatro Nacional Sucre is the most active cultural space in the Ecuadorian capital, employing nearly 3,000 people in its 3 theaters and one Cultural Center.
Additionally, eight resident ensembles rehearse daily in their Centro Cultural Mama Cuchara. With an annual budget of around $4,000,000, the Fundación Teatro Nacional Sucre is home of two emblematic Festivals in the country: Ecuador Jazz and Festival Internacional de Música Sacra. In addition to those festivals, Patiño programed Fiesta Escénica en Quito, a theatre, dance and circus festival, a Guitar Bienal, Mes de las Nuevas Artes (New Works Festival), as well as visiting artists in all spaces.
Educational programs for schools and cultural activities and concerts around the city were also integral part of the programming Patiño helped develop. Teatro Nacional Sucre toured to many venues, becoming integral in the cultural activity of the city and the country, offering about 500 performances throughout the city annually and attracting an audience of around 100,000. During Patiño’s tenure, the Teatro Nacional Sucre became a production theater, creating original productions, many of which have traveled around the country and outside of Ecuador. Thus, Ecuador was invited to be a member of Opera Latino Americana, hosting its 2018 yearly meeting and the first Forum of Communication.
Current as of September 25, 2024
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"... magnificent..." – BachTrack
Florencia en el Amazonas – “Chía Patiño did a great job as stage director. She and her team managed to pull us into the story through a stage with modules (representing the ship, the river and the jungle), a magnificent light show and the performance of several puppeteers."
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“... cleverly devised…” – BachTrack
Orfeo ed Eurydice – “Seattle Opera’s tiny Tagney Jones Hall…saw opening night of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Eurydice on Wednesday in a cleverly devised, stripped-down production by Chía Patiño, making her company debut."
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"... excellent director Chia Patino…” – OperaWire
Tosca– “The excellent director Chia Patino has adapted Tosca in a wonderful way.”
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"... magnificent show..." – El Comercio
La Flauta Mágica de los Andes – “A magnificent show that combined fantasy and realism, sonority, and careful silence, stories of gods and mortals with their challenges and compromises.”
REPRESENTATIVES
General