Francesca Zambello is an internationally recognized director of opera and theater who has served as the Artistic Director of the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center since 2013. She was Artistic and General Director of the Glimmerglass Festival from 2011 to 2022, when she was named the company’s Artistic and General Director, Emerita. Francesca’s work has been seen at the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, the Bolshoi, Covent Garden, the Munich Staatsoper, Paris Opera, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and English National Opera. She has staged plays and musicals on Broadway, at the Royal National Theatre, BAM, the Guthrie Theater, Vienna’s Raimund Theater, the Bregenz Festival, Sydney Festival, Disneyland, Berlin’s Theater des Westens, and at the Kennedy Center. She received the San Francisco Opera Medal for Artistic Excellence for her more than 30 years of artistic contributions to the company, including serving as Artistic Advisor from 2006 to 2011. She received the Knighthood of the Order of the Star of Italy for her contribution to the promotion of Italian culture and heritage and has been awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government for her contribution to French culture. Theatrical honors include three Olivier Awards, two Evening Standard Awards, two French Grand Prix des Critiques, Helpmann Award, Green Room Award, Palme d’Or in Germany, and the Golden Mask in Russia. She began her career as the Artistic Director of the Skylight Opera Theatre and as an assistant director to the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. An American who grew up in Europe, she speaks French, Italian, German, and Russian. She is a graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, from which she also received an Honorary Doctorate. Francesca lives in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Cooperstown, New York with her wife, Faith Gay, a founding partner of Selendy & Gay, and their son, Jackson.