Photo by Felipe Barral

Biography

General and Artistic Director of The Atlanta Opera since 2013, Israeli born Tomer Zvulun is also one of leading stage director of his generation, earning consistent praise for his creative vision and innovative interpretations. His work has been presented by prestigious opera houses in Europe, South and Central America, Israel and the US, including The Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, The Dallas Opera, San Diego Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Montreal, Buenos Aires, Israeli Opera, and the festivals of Wexford, Glimmerglass and Wolf Trap, as well as leading educational institutes and universities such as The Juilliard School, Indiana University, Boston University.

Tomer spent seven seasons on the directing staff of the Metropolitan Opera where he directed revivals of Carmen and Tosca and was involved with more than a dozen new productions. He is a frequent guest director in companies such as Seattle Opera (Semele, La Boheme, Eugene Onegin, Lucia di Lammermoor,), Dallas Opera (Das Rheingold, Rigoletto, Die Fledermaus, La Boheme),Houston Grand Opera (The Flying Dutchman, Rigoletto), Wexford Festival (Silent Night, Dinner at Eight), Cincinnati Opera (Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Flying Dutchman), Wolf Trap (Falstaff, Don Giovanni), Israeli Opera (Dead man walking, Giulio Cesare) among others. His European premiere of Silent Night at the Wexford Festival received two Irish Times Awards and traveled from Ireland to Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival and the opera companies of Atlanta, Austin and Salt Lake City. 

Zvulun directed 25 new productions in his home company in Atlanta, including The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Dead Man Walking, The Flying Dutchman, Soldier Songs, Silent Night, Maria de Buenos Aires, Cabaret, La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, Lucia di Lammermoor, Magic Flute, Eugene Onegin to name but a few. During Tomer’s tenure, the company’s fundraising has tripled, resulting in twice the number of productions presented annually. His focus on innovation has garnered national attention and resulted in a Harvard Business School case study chronicling The Atlanta Opera’s turnaround, an International Opera Awards nomination, an ArtsATL luminary award and an invitation to deliver a Ted Talk about innovation in opera.

Tomer’s recent shows have traveled across continents, receiving critical acclaim for their striking visuals and cinematic quality. Some of them included Das Rheingold (Dallas, Atlanta), The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Atlanta, Kansas City, Austin, Calgary, Salt Lake City) The Flying Dutchman (Houston, Cincinnati, Atlanta), Dinner at Eight (Wexford Festival, Minnesota Opera), Eugene Onegin (Seattle, Atlanta, Detroit, Kansas City, Atlanta, Montreal), Lucia di Lammermoor (Seattle, Atlanta, Cleveland,)Silent Night (Wexford, Atlanta, Glimmerglass, Washington, Austin), Soldier songs (Atlanta, San Diego), Dead Man Walking (New Orleans, Atlanta, Israel), La Boheme (Seattle, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Atlanta, Dallas),  Lucrezia Borgia (Buenos Aires), Gianni Schicchi (Juilliard, IVAI Tel Aviv), L’heaure Espagnole (Juilliard), Magic Flute (Cincinnati, Atlanta, Indiana University), Don Giovanni (Wolf Trap, Cincinnati), Die Fledermaus (Dallas, Kansas City), Falstaff (Wolf Trap, Des Moines), Rigoletto (Houston, Boston, Atlanta, Omaha, Charlotte), Madama Butterfly (Atlanta, Castleton Festival, New Orleans) Tosca (National Theatre Panama, Atlanta) and Semele (Seattle). 

Tomer Zvulun was born and raised in Israel, attended the open University in Tel Aviv and Harvard Business School and makes his home in Atlanta.