Toronto-born Joshua Major began his
opera stage directing career at the age of 23 with La Cenerentola
for Opera Omaha. Soon after, Mr. Major worked as an assistant to Rhoda
Levine at Juilliard, Cynthia Auerbach at both Chautauqua Opera and New
York City Opera and William Gaskill at the Welsh National Opera.
Mr.
Major has worked as a stage director for over 25 years throughout the
United States and Canada developing an impressive repertoire of
productions. Recent engagements include The Cunning Little Vixen
for the Cape Town Opera; Lucia di Lamermoor for the Academy of
Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, L'Impressions de Pelleas in Tel Aviv, La
Traviata for the Jacksonville Symphony; L'elisir d'amore
for Cleveland Opera; The Tales of Hoffmann and Lucia di
Lammermoor for Indianapolis Opera.
Mr. Major is in his 18th
year on the faculty of the University of Michigan where he oversees the
Opera Program, both teaching and directing. Recent productions at the
University of Michigan include, Armide, A Midsummer Night's
Dream, Eugene Onegin, L'Amico Fritz, and Postcard
from Morocco.
He is the Artistic Director of the Pine Mountain Music Festival, where he has been for the past 7 years, producing over 300 concerts of opera, symphony and chamber music. PMMF is
located in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan and produces a 4 week season of live classical music in June/July annually.
He continues to be a stage director and faculty
member with the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, where he has
directed annually since 1993. Mr. Major currently resides in Ann Arbor,
MI.