John Hoomes
Director
Nashville Opera's General and Artistic Director, John Hoomes, has directed over 75 productions of opera and musical theater in his career. As a freelance director, he works with companies such as Kentucky Opera, Cincinnati Opera, The Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Opera Memphis, Glimmerglass Opera, Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Indianapolis Opera, Opera New Jersey and Pittsburgh Opera.
In the recent 2007-2008 Season, Mr. Hoomes directed Salome with Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Andrea Chenier with Mobile Opera, I Pagliacci with the Augusta Opera, La Traviata with Opera New Jersey, and Nashville Opera's productions of Samson et Dalilah, Il Trovatore, H.M.S. Pinafore, and the world premiere of Robert Aldridge's Elmer Gantry, based on the famous book by Sinclair Lewis. Opera News said, "Hoomes has proved himself an intriguing iconoclast...deftly handling the narrative's tricky juxtaposition of earthly grit (his rendering of Elmer's outrageous attempts at spiritual marketing were hilarious) and hints of the divine."
In the 2008-2009 Season and beyond, he directs Le Nozze di Figaro at Opera Carolina, Turandot with Opera Columbus, Don Giovanni with Opera Cleveland, Il Barbiere di Siviglia in his Baltimore Opera debut, Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera New Jersey, Elmer Gantry at Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, and Nashville Opera's productions of Don Giovanni, The Student Prince and La Bohème, among other engagements to be announced.
Additional recent engagements include Nashville Opera's "Southeastern professional premiere" of two contemporary pieces: Poulanc's La Voix humaine and Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse. Additionally, he directed Don Giovanni for Florentine Opera of Milwaukee; Rigoletto for Opera Carolina; Carmen and Rigoletto with Opera Memphis; La bohème and L'elisir d'amore with Augusta Opera, I Pagliacci/Il Maestro di Cappella for Lake George Opera; Turandot in with Indianapolis Opera; Hänsel und Gretel with Opera Columbus; Roméo et Juliette with Opera Lyra Ottawa; and Aida, Madama Butterfly, and Roméo et Juliette with Nashville Opera.
After receiving his Masters Degree at Indiana University, he served for 6 years as the Resident Stage Director and Dramaturge for the Kentucky Opera. In 1993, Mr. Hoomes was awarded the title of "American Cultural Expert" by the United States Information Agency. As a part of this appointment, Mr. Hoomes spent four weeks in Argentina with the Teatro Colón and their Instituto Superior. While in residence at the Teatro Colón, Mr. Hoomes taught master-classes in dramatic characterization, opera history, and acting for the operatic stage. Utilizing young singers from the Instituto, Mr. Hoomes also staged a "North American" opera, in both Spanish and in English.