The New York Times:
“One of our more ambitious and effective younger directors.”
— 2016
“Schlather has always been gifted at eliciting intense performances, daring both vocally and physically, and he draws them out of this young cast.”
— 2025
“…a gift for drawing out vivid performances.”
— 2014
“…a rare American opera director whose innovative stateside work has attracted international attention.”
— 2023
“Avant-garde opera for the people…" — New Yorker Magazine
What People Are Saying:
“Schlather is a master of creating stage magic out of basically nothing, which he again demonstrated in Amor vien dal destino.”
— Classical Voice America, 2026
“R.B. Schlather proved himself first as a comedian with Cimarosa, then in Madama Butterfly almost as a clinical psychiatrist.”
— OpernWelt, 2022
“R.B. Schlather’s production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte was the revelation of this Santa Fe Opera season …modern, disturbing, and riveting.”
— Wall Street Journal, 2019
“Schlather is oriented towards the work, not adapting the work to himself. Precisely for this reason he can produce something quite idiosyncratic, original.”
— Frankfurter Rundschau, 2021
Schlather emerged as a director through experimental performances of Handel’s operas, beginning with Alcina (2014) and Orlando (2015), presented as open-process installations in a Lower East Side storefront gallery. The success of these productions led Hudson Hall to commission a multi-year Handel series from Schlather, developed in collaboration with the period-instrument band Ruckus. The series began with Rodelinda (2023) and continued with Giulio Cesare (2025), both New York Times Critics’ Picks. Rodelinda was subsequently presented by Santa Fe Opera, and the series continues with Deidamia, Handel’s final Italian opera, in 2027.
Other career highlights include Fluxconcert, a takeover of Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Christopher Rountree; the world premiere of David Hertzberg’s The Wake World for Opera Philadelphia’s inaugural O Festival at the Barnes Foundation; Philip Glass’ Madrigal Opera at National Sawdust; John Adams’ Doctor Atomic for Curtis Opera Theater; and Philip Glass’ In the Penal Colony for Boston Lyric Opera at the historic Cyclorama in Boston. His community-sourced staging of The Mother of Us All at Hudson Hall was named one of the best performances of 2017 by The New York Times.
Schlather received a BA in Art History with a minor in Drama from Ithaca College. He is a member of AGMA and is represented by Opus 3 Artists.
Praised by The New York Times as “one of our more ambitious and effective younger directors,” R.B. Schlather is an American artist and opera director whose productions are distinguished by vivid performances, physical intensity, and immediacy.
In the 2026-27 season, Schlather makes debuts at the Royal Ballet & Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Den Norske Opera & Ballett, and Irish National Opera. He also continues his acclaimed Handel series at Hudson Hall with a new production of Deidamia. Recent engagements include productions for Santa Fe Opera and Oper Frankfurt, where his five premieres (Macbeth, Madama Butterfly, Tamerlano, Amor vien dal destino, and L’Italiana in Londra) have all been revived in repertory. His “radically minimal” production of Barber’s Vanessa, created with HeartBeat Opera and Williamstown Theatre Festival, was included among The New York Times’ best classical music and opera of 2026.