MALENA DAYEN
DIRECTOR
BIOGRAPHY
Malena Dayen is an Argentinian opera stage director and Princeton Hodder fellow. Last season, Ms. Dayen directed Dialogues des Carmélites at Montclair University as well as the first U.S. production of Menotti's La Médium in Spanish for Fort Worth Opera. She also joined the Metropolitan Opera as an assistant stage director for Deborah Colker's production of Ainadamar.
This season, in addition to her continued work at Montclair University, Ms. Dayen will reprise the critically-acclaimed El Oratorio Panhispánico, composed by Alejandro Zuleta for the MACC Ensemble. Entirely in Spanish, this groundbreaking oratorio weaves contemporary classical sound with the rich rhythms of Latin America in an unforgettable multimedia production. She will also lead the World Premiere production of Derrick Wang’s Fearless for Opera Delaware, a new opera based on the story of Hazel Ying Lee, a trailblazing World War II aviator and member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Future seasons include a return to The Metropolitan Opera for their productions of Andrea Chénier as well as a new production of Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz’ El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, a magical-realist portrait of Mexico’s painterly power couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.
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Previous engagements include a concert version of Aida at Fort Worth Opera, which featured interactive projections, along with Roméo et Juliette, Carmen and Frida at Opera Naples.
In addition to her directing work, Ms. Dayen recently co-created luzAzul, an opera for very young audiences that premiered in New York City before touring to the Ziguzajg Festival in Malta and the Atta Festival in Türkiye. Malena also co-created and directed Bare Opera’s FireSongs by Thomas Cabaniss, presented in collaboration with National Sawdust at the Chelsea Factory in New York City.
In 2020, Malena won 1st Prize in Catapult Opera’s competition for innovation in opera. She also directed Teatro Grattacielo’s video productions of Fedora and Mefistofele, works selected to the Munich Music Video Awards, the 4th Dimension Independent Film Festival, and the London International Music Video Awards. Additionally, she directed Cuando el fuego abrasa, a co-production of Opera Hispánica and Teatro Grattacielo featuring songs by Piazolla, De Falla's El Amor Brujo at LaMama in New York City, as well as Teatro Grattacielo's production of Mascagni's L'Amico Fritz at LaMama and the Festival of the Voice in Phoenicia, NY.
As creative director of Bare Opera, Ms. Dayen directed The Late Walk, a new opera in collaboration with Decameron Opera Coalition, which was inducted into The Library of Congress’ Performing Arts COVID-19 Response Collection. With Bare Opera, she has also directed Heroes of New York, another collaboration with DOC, as well as directed and starred in productions of Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires and Don Giovanni. She also co-created Bare Opera’s Exercises on The Presence of Odradek, a new experimental operatic work performed live online.
As an operatic mezzo soprano, Ms. Dayen received high praise from the New York Times, which called her performance in the world premiere of P. Moravec’s The Blizzard Voices at Carnegie Hall “Outstanding.” She made her début as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at the Teatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro and has also performed in Carmen, Manon Lescaut, Elektra and Thaïs at the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo.
Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Malena is a Spanish music and tango specialist, performing this repertoire with orchestras worldwide. Malena holds an MFA from CUNY Brooklyn College in the Performance and Interactive Media Arts program, as well as a MM and a PSD from the Mannes College of Music, The New School.
Current as of April 1, 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...Dayen's subtle choices." – OperaWire
Cuando el Fuego Abrasa – "On first glance, the double bill, featuring a series of tangos by Piazzolla’s and De Falla’s “El Amor Brujo” seemed like an unlikely pairing. But in this version, the combinations complement one another...because of Dayen's subtle choices."
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"...truly engag[ing] with...rich world[s]..." – OperaWire
Maria de Buenos Aires – "[T]his was an immersive experience that allowed you to truly become engaged with the rich world created by Piazzolla and Ferrer in their 'tango operita.'"
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"['FireSongs' is] a work of tremendous beauty, and an experience crafted by Dayen." – OperaWire
FireSongs – “FireSongs” is...an image of the human experience. Some of it is abstract, like the images of landscapes projected on the rear wall, but much of it is plain as day. It’s a work of tremendous beauty, and an experience crafted by Dayen. These elements worked hand in hand to deliver an insightful view of the human condition in all its beauty and brutality."
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"Dayen’s version of [Fedora] is highly rich in emotions." – OperaWire
Fedora – "Minimalist and modern in the set design, Dayen’s version of the work is highly rich in emotions. The light, the very technical harmonization of the voices and piano, the acting — it all hits to the heart..."
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"Dayen's....uncommon clarity..." – Voix des Arts
Fedora – "Capitalizing on the intimacy of the production’s filmed format, Malena Dayen’s direction lent the opera’s action uncommon clarity: regardless of the number of singers on screen and the sameness of their dress, the individual identities of the characters singing and the significance of their utterances were consistently apparent."