Yuval Sharon

Yuval Sharon is an American opera director whose unconventional body of work is committed to expanding the art form. He founded the acclaimed experimental company The Industry in Los Angeles in 2010 and transformed Detroit Opera as its artistic director starting in 2020. Sharon served as Artist Collaborator at the LA Phil from 2016–19, where he launched the first-ever full cycle of John Cage’s Europeras and directed a landmark production of Meredith Monk’s ATLAS. His first book, A New Philosophy of Opera, was published in September 2024. His second, Anarchy at the Opera, is forthcoming from University of Chicago Press. Sharon was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2017. He is the inaugural Global Solutions Visiting Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society.

The Comet/Poppea is Sharon’s latest production with The Industry, with whom he has previously directed new operas in moving vehicles, operating train stations, and other everyday “non-places.” Despite his love for unconventional locations, Sharon’s productions have been seen in some of the most prestigious theaters in the world. He recently made his Metropolitan Opera debut with Tristan und Isolde and will launch his Ring cycle there in the 2027–28 season. He is the first American ever invited to direct at Bayreuth, and has staged productions at the Staatsoper Berlin, Vienna Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, and with The Cleveland Orchestra, among others.