Joel Ivany is the Founding Artistic Director of Against the Grain Theatre (AtG), served 12 seasons as Artistic Director of Opera at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and is currently the Artistic Director of Edmonton Opera. He is known for his innovative, award-winning approach to opera direction and creation, both in Canada and internationally.
His directing credits include Macbeth (Minnesota Opera), Carmen (Vancouver Opera, Canadian Opera Company), Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Die Fledermaus, and Die Walküre (Edmonton Opera), Gavin Bryars’s Marilyn Forever (Adelaide Festival), and a revival of Le nozze di Figaro with the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet.
He is the librettist of seven (and counting) original operas, written for companies such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Opera Company.
Joel is a multiple Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee, receiving recognition for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding New Opera/Musical, and winning for Figaro’s Wedding.
Recent mainstage credits include Dead Man Walking (Minnesota Opera and Vancouver Opera) and the multi-award-winning Orphée+ (Edmonton Opera, Opera Columbus, AtG, Banff Centre).
Other notable projects include Hänsel und Gretel and Carmen (COC), Requiem and The Seven Deadly Sins (TSO), Brundibár (Canadian Children’s Opera Company), Kopernikus (AtG, Banff Centre), the internationally recognized film Messiah/Complex (AtG), and directing the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.
Joel is a graduate of the University of Toronto Opera School and a proud member of the Alumni Wall of Fame at Western University.
