Stage director Corinne Hayes has recently created new productions of La Rondine for the Miami Classical Music Festival, Rigoletto for Mississippi Opera, and Così fan tutte for Winter Opera St. Louis. Broadway World praised Così: “Corinne Hayes manages her players wonderfully. Every move is natural, stage pictures are well composed, the chorus is given lovely detail, and every instrumental passage is filled with meaningful physical action. All in all a beautiful job by Ms. Hayes.”
As part of the 2019-2020 season, Corinne conceived new productions of Adamo’s Little Women (Temple University Opera Theatre) and Albert Herring (Miami Classical Music Festival). In the new year, Corinne continued her collaboration with the Webster University Opera Studio, mentoring young performers and designers while staging scenes from across the repertoire. As a tenured member of the production staff of Washington National Opera, Corinne served as Assistant Director to E. Loren Meeker on the company’s new production of Don Giovanni.
The 2018-19 season began with a company debut at Opera Philadelphia, where Corinne worked on James Darrah’s wildly successful production of Ne Quittez Pas, where she worked closely with world-renowned soprano Patricia Racette. Later in the season, Corinne returned to the directing staff of Washington National Opera for Francesca Zambello’s production of The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me. Later in the season, Corinne made her directing debut with the Webster University Opera Studio and returned to the University of Maryland to collaborate with the renowned Maryland Opera Studio. Corinne served on the faculty of the Miami Music Festival and Red River Lyric Opera, staging Le nozze di Figaro (Miami) and The Little Prince (Red River) for their 2019 summer festivals.
Corinne is committed to presenting music theater that is accessible beyond the walls of the opera house. For the 2018 Capital Fringe Festival, Corinne staged four short contemporary operas (The Lives Left Behind), focusing on the inner lives of women; the Washington Post praised this production as “…brimming with ideas…”, and DC Metro Theater Arts named it Best of Fringe 2018. Corinne has created site-specific productions of David Conte’s The Gift of the Magi and Gershwin's Blue Monday with Marble City Opera in collaboration with beloved Knoxville jazz band The Marble City 5. In June 2014, Corinne made her DC debut with Teatro Lirico of DC, directing La Verbena de la Paloma at the GALA Hispanic Theatre; she has since presented several productions with the company, and collaborated extensively with the DC-based flamenco troupe, Furia Flamenca. As an assistant and associate director, Corinne is honored to have worked with such notable artists as Francesca Zambello and E. Loren Meeker at Washington National Opera, Ken Cazan at Central City Opera, James Darrah at Opera Philadelphia, and Tito Capobianco at Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia.
