Biography

Stage director Tara Faircloth’s work has been seen in opera houses around the nation. Critics hailed her directorial debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago: a “wickedly funny, elegantly sung, cleverly directed production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.”   In recent seasons, she created new productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor (Juilliard Opera), Cunning Little Vixen (University of Michigan),The Little Prince (Utah Opera), Semele (Wolf Trap Opera), Il re pastore (Merola Opera), Agrippina (Ars Lyrica Houston), and L’incoronazione di Poppea (Boston Baroque).

The upcoming season finds Ms. Faircloth creating several new productions, including Semele at Wolf Trap Opera, and Amadigi for Ars Lyrica Houston. She will be remounting her own productions of Pagliacci and The Little Prince at Austin Opera and Utah Opera, and making several company debuts, including Santa Fe Opera and Virginia Opera. In addition, she revisits old favorite Die Zauberflöte at Arizona Opera and directs Into the Woods for the first time.

Faircloth has a thriving career in regional houses such as Utah Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera and Atlanta Opera (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto, Die Zauberflöte, Hänsel & Gretel, etc.). The baroque repertoire is of special interest to Ms. Faircloth, who made her directorial debut with Ars Lyrica Houston’s production of Cain: Il primo omicidio in 2003, and has since designed and directed a number of shows for the company. 

Ms. Faircloth has worked extensively on the directing staff of such companies as Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Central City Opera, and Dallas Opera, and as such, has worked on some of the most complicated operas in the repertoire, assisting international directors and preparing cover casts of some of the best performers in our industry. Passionate about dramatic training for young singers, she has been a guest coach at Wolf Trap Opera Studio, Des Moines Metro Opera, University of Michigan, and Rice University, and for many years was the Drama Instructor for the Houston Grand Opera Studio and HGO's Young Artists’ Vocal Academy. She makes her home in Austin, Texas, where she enjoys keeping a large garden and fostering kittens for Austin Pets Alive!