Award-winning stage director Claire Choquette is an artistic force of nature whose concept for Strauss’ Salome won Opera America’s Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer prize in 2022 for an arresting cult-centric production. A quick up-and-comer on the American opera scene, Claire has been in high demand, having directed eight fully staged productions in her first year as a full-time stage director. Most recently, Choquette directed an imaginative new production of Lucia di Lammermoor with Painted Sky Opera in Oklahoma City set in 1880’s Appalachia, based on the Hatfield-McCoy feud. Recently lauded by OperaGene for her work on an English adaptation of The Impresario at Opera Baltimore, “Choquette did a masterful job keeping the action flowing and devising set ups for comic elements.” 

In November 2024, Claire will make her directing debut at Fort Worth Opera with Adamo’s Little Women just after returning to Boston University Opera Institute for a new production of Jonathan Dove’s Siren Song. Other directing credits include Little Women at Harrower Summer Opera, La Bohème at Shreveport Opera, Dust Bowl with The Verdigris Ensemble in Dallas, Alice Tierney by composer Melissa Dunphy and librettist Jacqueline Goldfinger at Boston University Opera Institute, L’incoronazione di Poppea at Red River Lyric Opera, and Handel’s Rodelinda at American Baroque Opera Company. 

As the assistant director at The Dallas Opera Outreach, Claire worked on productions of The Elixir of Love and The Billy Goats Gruff. Last summer, she held a residency at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis where she served as the Apprentice Assistant Stage Director, supporting directors James Robinson and Patricia Racette for productions of Tosca and Susannah, respectively. She also played a key role at OTSL in directing and organizing the Center Stage concert with conductor Daniela Candillari and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. 

Choquette was the resident assistant director at Painted Sky Opera for its 2021–2022 season, assisting productions of Pagliacci, Carmen, and Scalia/Ginsburg. Early in her career, Claire was an Assistant Professor at the Universidad Nacional del Paraguay in Asunción, teaching acting for singers and serving on the university’s opera production staff. She holds undergraduate degrees in Spanish and Vocal Performance from the University of North Texas and a Masters in Voice from Louisiana State University.