Joseph Bascetta

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Acclaimed stage director, Joseph Bascetta, is recognized for his high artistic standards and insightful direction. In 1999, he aided in establishing the Fresno International Grand Opera, featuring Maria Spacagna as Madama Butterfly in the company’s inaugural production. He was since appointed Artistic Director, a post he has now held for over a decade.

He has directed some of the company’s greatest successes such as Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto, Tosca, La traviata, Die Fledermaus, Carmen, Gianni Schicchi/I Pagliacci, Turandot, Rigoletto, Pirates of Penzance, Macbeth, Faust, La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Showboat, South Pacific with pop/broadway star Deborah Gibson, among many others. Next season, he directs La Rondine at Fresno Grand Opera and La bohème at Opera Lyra Ottawa.

Outside of Fresno in the past few seasons, he has also led productions of Macbeth and La traviata at Opera Lyra Ottawa, Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera in Phoenix, Il Trovatore for Indianapolis Opera, The Marriage of Figaro with Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance, and La bohème at the Syracuse Opera, Opera Columbus, and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center with Maestro Anton Coppola, televised on PBS in Florida.

Mr. Bascetta made his debut at the Astra Theater in Malta directing Macbeth, was named Artistic Advisor for the company and subsequently returned to direct productions of Rigoletto, Aida, Un Ballo in Maschera, La Gioconda with opera star Ghena Dimetrova, and La bohème with La Scala tenor Joseph Calleja,. Additional international career highlights include Tosca for Shanghai Grand Opera for the opening of the new Opera House in Podong Shanghai, an outdoor extravaganza of Turandot for the renowned Pula Opera Festival in Croatia, a production that received much acclaim and was televised nationally. In addition, Mr. Bascetta directed Otello for the prestigious Taipei Music Festival at the National Theatre in Taipei, Taiwan, and a captivating production of La Sonnambula with world famous bass, Bonaldo Giaiotti, at the Festival de Opera in Tenerife, Spain. A frequent guest in Asia, Mr. Bascetta debuted with the Singapore Lyric Theatre directing Faust, debuted in Seoul Korea at the Kim Cha Kyung Opera where he was invited to stage an outdoor spectacular of Carmen in Seoul’s Olympic Park, which was televised throughout Korea, directed Rigoletto for the National Theater of Taipei, and directed Cavalleria Rusticana in Shanghai, China at the new international Opera House.

Additional opera companies he has worked with include Berkshire Opera, Boston Academy of Music, Buffalo Opera, Capital Artistic Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, Cincinnati Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera, Dayton Opera, Gold Coast Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Jefferson Performing Arts Society of New Orleans, Michigan Opera Theatre, Mississippi Opera, New York Shakespeare Company, Ontario Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Pensacola Opera, Pittsburgh Opera Theatre, Providence Opera, Saskatoon Opera, the Shubert New Haven Opera, the Singapore Lyric Theatre, Toledo Opera, Virginia Opera, and Washington Lyric Opera.

Mr. Bascetta began his career in New York City where he received the coveted Show Business Award for Best Director of the Year for his direction of Floyd’s Susannah and Ward’s The Crucible. His background includes training with the Royal Shakespeare Company of London, dance and performance training in vocal and choral technique, experience as a music educator, and intensive study of Stanislavsky acting technique with Stellar Adler. Mr. Bascetta has studied with renowned Opera Director Frank Corsaro and established the Opera Studio of New York for the purpose of bringing the acting values of Stanislavsky and Actors Studio to Opera. Additional international credits include American representative and acting teacher for the International Opera School of the Societa dei Concerti in Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy and the acting teacher for A.I.M.S. in Graz, Austria. He was previously the Artistic Director of the Berkshire Opera, the Ontario Opera, and the Capital Artistic Opera Company.