Award-winning stage director Claire Choquette gained national recognition in 2022 with her cult-centric concept for Salome, which won OPERA America’s Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize. A rising star on the American opera scene, Claire has quickly been in high demand, directing eight fully staged productions in her first year as a full-time stage director. Her recent production of Little Women at Fort Worth Opera was praised by EarRelevant for being “superior in every aspect.” Additionally, OperaGene lauded her work on The Impresario at Opera Baltimore, noting her “masterful job” in maintaining the pacing and crafting the comic elements.

Other notable recent credits include an inventive production of Lucia di Lammermoor set in 1880s Appalachia at Painted Sky Opera, La Bohème at Shreveport Opera, Dust Bowl with The Verdigris Ensemble, and both Siren Song and Alice Tierney at Boston University Opera Institute. 

Previously, Claire held resident assistant director positions with The Dallas Opera Outreach, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Painted Sky Opera. Early in her career, she served as an Assistant Professor at the Universidad Nacional del Paraguay in Asunción, where she taught acting for singers and was instrumental in facilitating the university’s opera productions. 

Looking ahead, Claire is set to work on productions with Verdigris Ensemble and at Charlottesville Opera, Portland Opera, Temple University, and Wolf Trap Opera.