News & Views

Mary Birnbaum '99 Produces the World Premiere Performance of ‘In the Grove’

NCCS alumna Mary Birnbaum '99 recently produced the world premiere performance of ‘In the Grove’ by the Pittsburgh Opera. Based on a short story of the same name by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, ‘In the Grove’ follows seven witness testimonies to a murder, each clashing in perspective, offering a searing investigation into the impossibility and elusiveness of truth.
“Director Mary Birnbaum's concept for In a Grove takes inspiration from James Turrell and Fujiko Nakaya, artists whose work renders subtle changes in perception,” said Broadway World.

A graduate of Harvard College, Birnbaum also trained professionally in physical theater at L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris and currently works as Associate Director of the post-graduate Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program at Juilliard. She has also taught acting for singers at Bard College and in the Lindemann Young Artists Program at the Metropolitan Opera. A trailblazer in the opera world – with her new production of La Bohème, Mary is the third woman in history to open the Santa Fe Opera season – she directs music theater projects nationally, internationally and virtually.
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