Hans Nieuwenhuis
Hans Nieuwenhuis studied law at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam before devoting his professional life to theatre as an actor, designer, writer, and ultimately as a stage director. He assisted several renowned opera stage directors, including Götz Friedrich, Harry Kupfer, John Cox, David Pountney, Lotfi Mansouri, and John Copley, and made his directing debut with the Netherlands Opera in 1979, where he was resident stage director from 1979–1984, directing new productions of La Bohème, Parsifal, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Rita, The Old Maid and the Thief (Menotti), and several world premieres.
His international career began in 1981, staging the USA premiere of Philip Glass’ Satyagraha for the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Art Park Festival. He went on to direct more than 80 productions worldwide, for companies including L’Opéra de Nice, The Canadian Opera Company, San Francisco Opera, Manitoba Opera, L’Opéra de Montréal, Opera Colorado, Long Beach Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Western Opera Theater, Opera Omaha, Lincoln Center New York, Pacific Opera Victoria, and Bangkok Opera, among many others across Europe, Asia, and North America.
For over three decades, Hans Nieuwenhuis has devoted himself to aspiring young opera singers, teaching and directing for the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble, the San Francisco Opera Merola Program, the Curtis Institute of Music, Yale University, Michigan University, McGill University, the conservatories of Utrecht, Amsterdam, and Maastricht, the Sichuan and Ningxia Conservatories in China, and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. He is a regular guest teacher at the Opera Studio of the National Theatre in Tokyo, and has given masterclasses across the Netherlands, the USA, Thailand, Russia, Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, France, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Japan, Ukraine, Oman, and China.
From 1992–2011, Mr. Nieuwenhuis was founder and General Director of Opera Studio Nederland in Amsterdam, an extensive training programme for young singers from around the world, funded by the Dutch government. He is currently General Director of the Orfeo Foundation, established to promote collaboration between young-artist programmes internationally.
In April 2012, Hans Nieuwenhuis was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau by Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for his work in opera, theatre, and music.