About Melanie
Originally from Chicago, IL, Melanie Bacaling (she/her) is an active Stage Director and Artistic Collaborator in the opera industry. She is currently on the Stage Directing Staff at The Metropolitan Opera. Most recently she held the title of Associate Director for Matthew Ozawa's new production of Madama Butterfly with Detroit Opera and Cincinnati Opera; at the Metropolitan Opera she most recently Assistant Directed Robert O'Hara's production of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and Carrie Cracknell's Carmen. She also recently worked on the World Premiere of Will Liverman's The Factotum at Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 2022 she made her film directing debut with Boston Lyric Opera with a concert docu-series titled B., which can be found on operabox.tv.
Ms. Bacaling holds production credits with LA Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Detroit Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Omaha, Washington Concert Opera, Aspen Opera Center, Sun Valley Music Festival, The Boston Conservatory, and Longy School of Music. She has training in Intimacy Directing and she is passionate about creating actively inclusive artistic spaces, interrogating what it takes to decolonize the rehearsal room.
Melanie Bacaling pictured working with the General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb. Photograph by Kinga Karpati.
As a Producer, Ms. Bacaling worked with Boston Lyric Opera to create We Need to Listen, a series of conversations highlighting the racial inequities that exist in classical music and opera. Also with BLO, she curated and produced BLO’s podcast at its (s)core, which seeks to delve into the inner workings of the opera industry and highlight voices of BLO's BIPOC and LGBTQIA communities
Upcoming engagements include Associate Directing Robert O'Hara's production of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X with Seattle Opera and Netia Jones' production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with Garsington Opera. She will also be the inaugural House Assistant Director for Santa Fe Opera's 2024 season.
Trained as a vocalist and pedagogue, Ms. Bacaling holds a BM in Voice and BS in Psychology from the University of Evansville, as well as an MM in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from the Boston Conservatory.