photo: Joseph Labolito

photo: Stefanos Koroneos

Stage Director JJ Hudson is well known for his visually arresting and dynamic productions.  JJ is the Interim Artistic Director of Opera at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he directs the conservatory productions.

Recent professional productions include Becoming Santa Clause (Opera Louisiane), West Side Story (Wichita Grand Opera), Rita & Il Segreto di Susanna (Sarasota Opera), La Bohème for Mississippi Opera and the Natchez Music Festival, Le Nozze di Figaro for the Miami Music Festival, La Belle Hélène, Die Zauberflöte, Carmen, and Ariadne auf Naxos for the Lakes Area Music Festival, and Tosca for Tri-Cities Opera.

Additional recent productions include Cosi fan tutte for Opera Tampa, Lucio Silla for Temple University Opera, Bastianello for Rochester Lyric Opera, Pagliacci and Il Tabarro for the Opera in the Ozarks, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Carmen, and The Rake's Progress for Lakes Area Music Festival, South Pacific and La Cenerentola for Opera Roanoke, The Impresario and The Medium for University of Kansas Opera, Werther for Temple University Opera, Le Nozze di Figaro for Opera in the Ozarks, Carmen for the Lakes Area Music Festival, and La Boheme and Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Tri-CIties Opera.
 
In December 2012, JJ directed Schubert’s Winterreise in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for the Make Music New York Winter Festival. The production received an enthusiastic review in The New York Times. JJ has also worked for Opera North, Syracuse Opera, Tacoma Opera, Mercury Opera Rochester, Empire State Lyric Theater, and Buffalo Opera Unlimited, Rochester Lyric Opera, Oswego Opera Theater, Eastman Opera Theater, Stony Brook University Opera Theater, Columbus State University, Concord University, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
 
In 2013, JJ served on the directing staff of the Aspen Opera Theater, where he worked on productions of Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and L’Incoronazione di Poppea.  Hudson holds a M.A. in Stage Direction and a D.M.A. in Voice and Opera Performance from the Eastman School of Music, an M.A. in Vocal Performance from the University of Iowa, and a B.M. in Music Composition and Vocal Performance from Stetson University.