Seattle Opera names James Robinson as general and artistic director

Seattle Opera has today named stage director and arts administrator James Robinson as its next general and artistic director, effective from 4 September. Robinson becomes the fifth person to lead the company in its 61-year history, succeeding Christina Scheppelmann, who moves to Brussels’ to take up the role of general and artistic director with the La Monnaie/De Munt in January 2025 following the completion of her contract in Seattle.

Robinson moves to the Seattle Opera from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL), where he has held the role of artistic director since 2008. Robinson will take over Seattle Opera’s $25-million budget and will oversee the company’s annual season featuring five mainstage productions alongside community programs, classes, and public events.

Jonathan Rosoff, chair of the search committee which chose Robinson, said: ‘An accomplished stage director and administrator, James is widely recognized as a leading creative force in this industry, and his productions have appeared at many of the world’s most respected opera houses. Between his steadfast leadership, his impressive record of innovation, and his deep knowledge of opera, we are confident that James will make an immediate impact at Seattle Opera and lead the company into an exciting and inventive new era.’

As a stage director, Robinson has directed around 75 new productions and over 30 world premieres. Hos most successful project with Seattle Opera was a 2004 production of Bizet’s Carmen that sold more tickets than any opera in the company’s history. In his current role with OTSL, Robinson commissioned 11 world premieres and alongside ‘imaginative new productions’ of core repertoire including Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, which became the first work by a Black composer to appear on the Metropolitan Opera stage.

Robinson said: ‘Seattle is an opera town. It has opera in its DNA, and I am honored to be able to build on that rich tradition. I can’t wait to get to work creating art with and for the passionate audiences that have made Seattle Opera into the company it is today. Like politics, all arts are local. It’s vital to include the community in decision-making processes, working with them to identify stories they want to see on stage. This is an area where Seattle Opera has established itself as a leader, and I look forward to continuing this work with communities across the Pacific Northwest.’

At OTSL Robinson’s community-focused approach to programming, led to the creation of OTSL’s New Works, Bold Voices commissioning program, which worked to ‘tell diverse, modern-day stories in partnership with the local St. Louis community’.