JJ Hudson

Stage Director JJ Hudson is known for his sensitive and dynamic productions. Recent engagements include Rita and Il segreto di Susannah with Sarasota Opera, Così fan tutte with Opera Tampa, West Side Story with Wichita Grand Opera, and Becoming Santa Claus with Opera Louisiane. Additional directing credits include productions with Opera Roanoke, Tri-Cities Opera, Opera in the Heights, Mississippi Opera, Lakes Area Music Festival, and the Natchez Festival.

JJ is an in-demand director in university opera programs. As Interim Artistic Director of the Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Theater, he has directed Hänsel and Gretel, Blond Eckbert, Die Fledermaus, Alcina, and Don Giovanni. Upcoming engagements in 2026 include Hänsel and Gretel and Blond Eckbert at the Cleveland Institute of Music, as well as Candide and Le nozze di Figaro with Opera in the Ozarks. He has also directed productions at Georgia State University, Temple University, Stony Brook University, Columbus State University, and the University of Kansas.

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JJ is a frequent director in young artist programs, including Aspen Opera Theater, Harrower Summer Opera Workshop, Oberlin in Italy, the Miami Music Festival, and Red River Lyric Opera. In the summer of 2026, he will return for a fifth season at Opera in the Ozarks to direct Candide and Le nozze di Figaro. In 2013, JJ served on the directing staff of Aspen Opera Theater, where he worked on productions of Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, and L’incoronazione di Poppea. In 2012, he directed Schubert’s Winterreise in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the Make Music New York Winter Festival; the production received an enthusiastic review in The New York Times.

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JJ holds a Master of Music in Stage Direction and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice and Opera Performance from the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Iowa, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition and Vocal Performance from Stetson University.