At age twenty-nine, as the youngest general director of an opera company in the United States, Michael McConnell began a ten-year creative and administrative association with Lyric Opera Cleveland as its Executive Director. During his tenure the Company achieved national prominence for its innovative profile in opera and music theater. He and the Company came to international attention during the 1993-94 season for the commission and subsequent production of MRS DALLOWAY, an opera by Libby Larsen and Bonnie Grice based upon the Virginia Woolf novel. Long-praised by local audiences and critics for his strong insights and keen theatricality, McConnell reaped additional praise for MRS DALLOWAY in OPERA NEWS and THE VILLAGE VOICE for work of “strong focus” and “theatrical urgency.” “The work made its intimate, probing points thanks to Michael McConnell’s urgent production,” wrote OPERA (UK).
A North Carolina native, he received his musical training as a pianist at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he was a student of the renowned Olga Conus. He was an honors graduate in musicology, later studying opera styles and production with Italo Tajo and Roger Brunyate.
In addition to much work in the standard repertory, his professional directing credits include numerous productions of lesser-known and world premiere pieces: Berlioz’s BEATRICE & BENEDICT, Agatha Christie’s BLACK COFFEE, Cavalli’s CALLISTO, Gershwin’s GIRL CRAZY; Monteverdi’s THE CORONATION OF POPPEA and THE RETURN OF ULYSSES, Larry Baker’s HAYDN’S HEAD, Milhaud’s LES MALHEURS d’ORPHÉE, Stravinsky’s THE RAKE’S PROGRESS, Weill’s THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS and Britten’s THE TURN OF THE SCREW. Mr. McConnell’s work has been successfully mounted by Skylight Opera Theatre, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Opera Memphis, Dayton Opera, Knoxville Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Opera San José, The Mississippi Opera, The City Musick, Rochester Opera Theatre and Pittsburgh Opera Theater. He directed educational programs and tours for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, The Cleveland Orchestra, Opera Memphis and the Cincinnati Opera.
Other directing credits include highly-acclaimed, new productions of Donizetti’s L’ELISIR D’AMORE for The Lake George Opera Festival and Puccini’s MANON LESCAUT for Opera Memphis, Mozart’s DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE for Opera San José and CANDIDE for Dayton Opera; THE RAKE’S PROGRESS and THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE for Florida State Opera and SUSANNAH for Baldwin-Wallace College’s Conservatory of Music; also Handel’s AGRIPPINA and Luciano Chailly’s PROCEDURA PENALE for Opera Theatre of Lucca; LA SONNAMBULA and DON GIOVANNI for the Oberlin Opera Theater in Urbania, Italy. Recent production highlights include TOSCA and CARMEN for the Dayton Opera, TOSCA for Opera Memphis, ALBERT HERRING for Baldwin-Wallace College’s Conservatory of Music and L’ELISIR D’AMORE for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where he is Director of UT Opera Theatre and Visiting Associate Professor of Opera.
He began his career on the production staffs of the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Cincinnati Opera, assisting such stage directors as Colin Graham, Lou Galterio, Frank Corsaro, James deBlasis and Gian Carlo Menotti. Teaching credits include the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, Baldwin-Wallace College’s Conservatory of Music, The Cleveland Institute of Music (Director of Opera from 1991-1995), and an associate professorship in opera at Florida State University’s College of Music where he was instrumental in a major reorganization of the opera department resulting in capacity enrollment, increased ticket sales and placement among the top five university opera programs in the United States as ranked by US NEWS & WORLD REPORT in its prestigious survey. He joined the directing staff of the Georgia State University School of Music’s Harrower Opera Workshop during the summer of 2010.
Michael McConnell is the recipient of a Cleveland Critic’s Award (1981–THE MIKADO) and Northern Ohio LIVE Award of Achievement Nominations for his production of THE TURN OF THE SCREW (1989), for Lyric Opera’s Mozart Cycle (1991) and for Lyric Opera’s 20th Anniversary Season (1993). He has regularly served as adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, has been a frequent panelist for the Opera/Music Theater Program of The National Endowment for the Arts, and has served on the Board of Directors of OPERA America. His master classes and lectures have been heard at The Cleveland Orchestra, Kent State University, University of Akron, Georgia Southern University, Opera San José, Wright State University and University of Memphis. As a music journalist, he has written numerous articles and reviews for OPERA NEWS, THE MUSIC JOURNAL, NORTHERN OHIO LIVE and THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. He is also a contributor to OPERA America’s guides to the young, professional singer. He has created supertitles for productions of FALSTAFF, DON GIOVANNI, MADAMA BUTTERFLY, L’ELISIR D’AMORE, DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL, COSÌ FAN TUTTE, HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (also new English dialogue) and ORFEO ED EURIDICE among others for the Dayton Opera, Opera San José, Opera Memphis, Mercury Opera Rochester, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Florida State Opera and the University of Memphis.