Madeleine Snow is an adventurous director and creative collaborator whose work spans opera, theatre, and film. A 2024-25 Studio Artist in the Marion Roose Pullin Arizona Opera Studio, Madeleine will assistant direct productions of La bohème and Aida, stage opera scenes for the Studio Cabaret, and direct selections for Arizona Opera’s new concert series, Beyond Downtown, in partnership with Ópera Cultura and On Site Opera. The recipient of the 2024-2025 National Opera Association’s JoElyn Wakefield-Wright Stage Director Fellowship, Madeleine made her Central City Opera debut in the 2024 Festival, where she assistant directed The Pirates of Penzance, stage direct the Young Artists performance of The Pirates of Penzance, and directed opera scenes for the Short Works programs. Additional recent credits include directing Die Zauberflöte with Boulder Opera, assistant directing Norma with Palm Beach Opera, and assistant directing the New York premiere of Huang Ruo’s An American Soldier at the Perelman Performing Arts Center.

Passionate about reimagining ways for contemporary audiences to engage with classical music, Madeleine directed a new production of Cavalli’s La Calisto with Eastman Opera Theatre and won second place of the 2023 American Prize in Directing for her innovative interpretation. She also brought an inventive, immersive twist to selections from Mozart’s most beloved operas, including Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, and Die Zauberflöte, in site-specific, outdoor performances as a part of Eastman Opera Theatre’s Mozart Mayhem. A founder of Rochester Summer Opera, she directed and choreographed the company’s inaugural production of Die Fledermaus at the Memorial Art Gallery and conceptualized its production of The Pirates of Penzance at a historic bathhouse on Ontario Beach.

An advocate of new works, Madeleine has enjoyed collaborating with contemporary composers. She directed the world premiere of Joshua Daniel Hershfield’s Rise, a critically acclaimed rock musical inspired by true stories of young women resistance fighters during the Holocaust. With celebrated American composer Ricky Ian Gordon, she staged the composer’s art songs in Heart Melodies as a part of Our Voices, a project championing collaborations with living composers and centering interpretive exploration with singers and pianists. In collaboration with distinguished theatre and opera composer Ben Moore, she directed (RE)LIVE, featuring selections from the composer’s stage works, including Gene and Tate (world premiere), Enemies, A Love Story, Henry and Company, Odyssey, and Robin Hood. As an opera libretto writer, she directed a reading of her adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s final novel, We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Madeleine holds an A.B. in Psychology and Theater, Dance & Media from Harvard University and an M.M. in Opera Stage Directing from the Eastman School of Music, where she instructed several courses on acting for opera singers and served as a dramatic coach on the faculty. She is also an alumna of the Kennedy Center Directing Intensive. Madeleine has previously worked as a director with Harvard College Opera, the Radcliffe Institute, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, JCC CenterStage, and Boston Youth Symphony, and she has held administrative positions with Opera Colorado, Boston Lyric Opera, American Repertory Theater, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Madeleine currently lives in Colorado, where she enjoys making opera accessible and inclusive by performing in non-traditional venues with Opera on Tap Colorado and hiking through the Rocky Mountains with her dog.