Internationally acclaimed stage director James Marvel was born and raised in New Orleans and made his Lincoln Center debut in 2008 for the Juilliard Opera Center. Since his professional directing debut in 1996, James has directed over 150 productions and was named Classical Singer Magazine’s “2008 – Stage Director of the Year.” Career highlights include groundbreaking new productions for the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Opera Carolina, Opera Boston, Opera Santa Barbara, San Antonio Opera, Kentucky Opera, Virginia Opera, Sacramento Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program among them. International credits include a new production of Carmen for Opera Africa and Die Zauberflote for the Seoul International Opera as well as work in Canada, Scotland, England, Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. James is thrilled to return to Princeton. His maternal forebears were all born in Princeton, and his parents met and married in Princeton before moving to New Orleans.