Student Rebecca Miller Kratzer Joins Helios Opera as Resident Stage Director

Directing Student Rebecca Miller Kratzer was recently named the Resident Stage Director & Chief Engagement Officer at Helios Opera. Helios Opera is focused on innovation in opera and making opera more accessible to communities who have been traditionally underrepresented in opera productions and audiences.

With Helios, Miller Kratzer is currently working on a new initiative called Bright Spots: Opera Makers Changing the Game. This is a biweekly series where Helios interviews innovative opera makers suggested by community members. Audiences are invited to nominate opera makers who are a positive force in the community to be interviewed on Instagram Live.

Helios recently produced the Modular Opera Project production of Stardust, written by Brooklyn-based composer Felix Jarrar based on the poems of British writer B. L. Foxley. The production is available to rent on-demand. Stardust is a groundbreaking hybrid of opera, poetry, music video, and film created and performed by an all-BIPOC creative team. The production is a part of Helios’ mission to create more access in the opera community. 

Miller Kratzer has collaborated with many Columbia artists. She directed Rachel's Out-of-this-World Bat Mitzvah, an immersive Bat Mitzvah alongside writers and co-creators students A.A. Brenner and Danielle Feder. Miller Kratzer also directed tenderly by playwriting student Ida Esmaeili at Guild Hall this past summer. This outdoor production was staged at Guild Hall on Long Island and can be viewed on YouTube. Esmaeili stars in her play, alongside Acting student Nate Janis. 

Rebecca Miller Kratzer is a theatre and opera director. Her work, rooted in explorations of ritual, brings the scale and gravitas of opera to theatre, and the intimacy and innovation of theatre to opera. Her goal is to render both forms exciting, relevant, and accessible. She is a believer in the value of collaboration and is committed to telling stories for and about women and uplifting Jewish voices. Miller Kratzer formerly served as the Artistic Director of the NEMPAC Opera Project and produced and directed multiple productions in Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall. She is a 2020-2021 Directing Fellow at Opera Saratoga. She recently interned for director Katie Mitchell, working on New Dark Age, a new production at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She received her BA in Theater Arts from Brandeis University and holds a Graduate Certificate in Arts Administration from Boston University. Miller Kratzer is currently working with director Whitney White on virtual projects and serving as the assistant director for a new production at the Bushwick Starr.