Apply to Direct the 2027 Mainstage for the Harvard College Opera!

A Note on ELIGIBILITY

Only current students of Harvard College who will not have received their diploma before the beginning of J-term rehearsals and who plan to be enrolled in classes during the upcoming fall semester are eligible to apply for the positions of music director and/or stage director. Harvard affiliates who do not meet these criteria who would have otherwise been interested in directing should instead reach out to signal their interest in staff positions, as applicable. Any non-Harvard affiliates interested in contributing to the production in a backstage capacity should instead reach out directly to the Executive Board at harvardcollegeopera@gmail.com, who will work to determine the availability of suitable opportunities on a case-by-case basis.

How to Apply — Music Director:

Application Deadline: **April 15th  11:59PM**

To submit your application, please fill in this Google Form which asks for the following:

• Artistic Résumé

• Statement of Interest (max. 500 words; min. 100)

• Optional: Past Conducting Videos

Once the application deadline has passed and we have received all applications, you will be contacted with a time slot  for your podium audition.

PODIUM AUDITIONS: 12:00 - 4:00 pm; April 18th

Your podium audition will be around 30 minutes long, and will be attended by current and former members of HCO’s Board of Operators and Executive Board. The podium audition will also include a brief interview at the end of your session. A successful audition will demonstrate how you conduct and how you deliver notes/work with your musicians—we expect you to give notes as if you are in rehearsal.

At the audition, you will be asked to conduct three excerpts:

• Mozart - Don Giovanni, Act 2 No. 19 Sestetto, measures 70-130 (“Ferma, briccone dove ten vai”)

• Massenet - Cendrillon, Act 1, Rehearsal 76 till end of Rehearsal 82 (“Ah! Que mes soeurs sont heureuses”)

  Massenet - Manon, Act 1, Rehearsal 24 to end of Rehearsal 31 (“Je suis encor tout étourdie”)

Find the excerpted full scores for each selection available below in PDF form.

Applicants who are not offered the Music Director position will have the option, at the ultimate discretion of the official Music Director, to become an Assistant Music Director for the production. All applicants are of course also welcome to be involved in the production in any other capacity.

How to Apply — Stage Director:

Application Deadline: **11:59pm; April 15th**

To submit your application, please fill out this Google Form which asks for the following:

• Artistic Résumé

• Statement of Interest (max. 500 words; min. 100)

• Your availability on 3/30 afternoon for interview

• Optional: Diversity Statement (max. 200 words)

• This should be your answer to the question: “What is a unique perspective you would bring to an HCO production, whether based in an underrepresented identity or culture, in exceptional skills or expertise, in niche interests or passions, or in uncommon knowledge or experiences?”

• Optional: Style Statement (max. 75 words)

• If you feel you have a very strong personal “style” or sense of coherent vision as a director that unites and influences all your work, please feel free to elaborate on that style here. For example, a director may have an exclusive preference for minimalist, modern sets, or a heavy emphasis on incorporating specific technologies into their storytelling, e.g. visual projection.

• *Note: Please only submit this statement if your personal vision would involve making substantial revisions to the traditional stagings. We ask for this information only to be able to alert you to any intellectual property regulations you would need to incorporate or work around to realize your directorial vision with regard to particular operas — this will help us ensure you have all the information needed to create the best artistic vision presentation possible for your interview.

Interviews: 4:00 - 6:00 pm; April 18th

Your interview will be approximately 30 minutes long, will be attended by members of HCO’s Board of Operators and presided over by HCO’s Executive Board. 

The interview will consist of questions to determine your stage directing and managerial/executive capabilities, and we will also share more about the stage director role with you. You are also encouraged to come to the interview ready to share ideas for operas you think HCO should consider for the 2026-7 season, though this is not binding and not a focal point of the interview. We encourage people of all directing experience levels to apply; HCO has welcomed first-time and experienced directors in the past to great success.

Applicants who are not offered the Stage Director position will have the option, at the ultimate discretion of the official Stage Director, to become an Assistant Stage Director for the production. All applicants are of course also welcome to be involved in the production in any other capacity.