Dr. Alan E. Hicks

Director of Opera, in association with San Diego Opera

Office: M225
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DMA, Opera Directing, The University of Texas, Austin
MM, Vocal Performance, Rice University
BME, Vocal Emphasis, Mississippi State University

Stage director Alan E. Hicks has spent the past two decades in professional opera and theatre. Turning his attention to direction following stints as a professional singer and teacher, his work has been described as “powerful and deeply moving,” “imaginatively directed,” “absolutely brilliant,” “gorgeous,” and “real magic.” He has directed productions for organizations throughout the United States and in Europe including Minnesota Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Miami Music Festival, Green Mountain Opera Festival, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Franco-American Vocal Academy in Salzburg, Shenandoah Conservatory, the University of Houston, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Iowa. Recent and upcoming engagements include Aida, The falling and the rising, and All is calm: the Christmas truce of 1914 for San Diego Opera, Ariadne auf Naxos for Minnesota Opera, L’elisir d’amore for Opera Santa Barbara, La clemenza di Tito for Music Academy International, Albert Herring at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, L’amico Fritz and L’italiana in Algeri for the Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston, Die Zauberflöte for Shenandoah Conservatory, and The turn of the screw for the Miami Music Festival.

Dr. Hicks has also served on the directing and production staffs of Central City Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Florida Grand Opera, San Diego Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Michigan Opera Theatre, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, and Tulsa Opera. In 2013, he was appointed Director of the Emerging Artist Program at Green Mountain Opera Festival, a position he held until the company’s closing in 2015. In addition to his work alongside such venerable operatic performers as Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Silvia McNair, Frederica von Stade, and Thomas Hampson as well as rising stars Erin Morley, Kate Lindsey, Hannah Hipp, Brian Jagde, Amber Wagner, and Nadine Sierra, Dr. Hicks has assisted renowned opera directors Michael Cavanagh, Chris Alexander, Linda Brovsky, Jay Lesenger, Peter Kazaras and Broadway veterans Susan Strohman and Sam Buntrock.

Committed to building future audiences and the continued growth of the art form, Dr. Hicks has written and directed educational shows for various ensembles. A recipe for opera, written and directed for Center City Opera Theatre, toured Philadelphia-area schools in 2013. Dr. Hicks’s abridged touring production of The elixir of love, conceived and directed for Tulsa Opera, toured Oklahoma in 2010 and 2011.

From 2002 until 2006, Dr. Hicks served on the faculties of the internationally acclaimed Actors Studio Drama School and American Academy of Dramatic Arts, both in New York City. He has taught master classes throughout the United States and has served as interim Director of Opera Workshop at Sam Houston State University, interim Director of the Martha-Ellen Tye Opera Theatre at the University of Iowa, and Associate Producer and Instructional Assistant Professor for the Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston. His former students have performed on with major opera companies, on Broadway, in national and international tours, on all major television networks, and in major motion pictures.

In addition to directing and teaching activities, Dr. Hicks authored a book entitled Singer and Actor: Acting Technique and the Operatic Performer. The book, published by Amadeus Press, is available in bookstores worldwide as well as over 150 libraries across the globe. Dr. Hicks has also penned several articles on subjects ranging from acting study to auditioning. His most recent article appeared in Classical Singer (magazine) in the summer of 2014.

Dr. Hicks holds degrees in Music Education, Vocal Performance, and Opera Directing from Mississippi State University, Rice University, and The University of Texas at Austin (respectively). He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).