Louisa Proske has established herself as a versatile, visionary director and arts leader on two continents. She is looking forward to major house debuts in the coming seasons, including at Opéra de Paris (Opéra Bastille), at the Metropolitan Opera New York, and at Deutsche Oper am Rhein.

Louisa is the recipient of a 2018 Princess Grace Award for directing, and was nominated as Director of the Year in the 2024 Critic‘s Poll of Opernwelt.

Her opera productions include Lucia di Lammermoor (Tiroler Festspiele Erl), Tosca (Glimmerglass Festival), Rinaldo (Glimmerglass Festival and Detroit Opera), Rusalka (Theater Regensburg), Amadigi di Gaula and Serse (Händelfestspiele Halle), Le Roi Arthus (BARD SummerScape), The Mother of Us All (New York Times #1 Classical Music event of 2020, historic collaboration between Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Philharmonic, Juilliard Vocal Arts), the world premiere of Primero Sueño, which she co-created with Paola Prestini and Magos Herrera and directed as a processional promenade performance at the historic Met Cloisters, Into the Woods, Gypsy, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto (all Oper Halle), Agrippina (Lincoln Center Debut - Carnegie Hall/ Juilliard Vocal Arts), Der Freischütz, Don Giovanni, Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, Daphnis & Chloé (all Heartbeat Opera).

From 2021 to 2025, Louisa served as Associate Artistic Director and Resident Director (stellvertretende Intendantin und Hausregisseurin) at Oper Halle, Germany. During her tenure there together with Intendant Walter Sutcliffe, the company celebrated the strongest ticket sales and visitor numbers in over 10 years, and won a prestigious DER FAUST Theaterpreis (Faust theater prize 2022).

Louisa is also the Co-Founder and former Co-Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed NYC-based Heartbeat Opera, which she built and led from 2013 to 2021 with Ethan Heard — “pioneers” (Wall Street Journal) and “an enterprise that, while small and still young, has already contributed more to opera’s vitality than most major American companies,” according to The New York Times.

Her theatre productions include The White Devil (Red Bull Theater - NYTimes Critic’s Pick), peerless (nominated for a Berkshire Theatre Award for Outstanding Direction), Gaslight, This, Engagements (all Barrington Stage Company), One Day When We Were Young (Assembly, Edinburgh); Rum 'n Coca Cola in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore (The Tank), Cymbeline and As You Like It at Yale School of Drama, and a European tour of Macbeth which she directed as an undergraduate at Cambridge University. 

Louisa has assisted Willy Decker, Harry Kupfer and Robert Woodruff. Louisa’s translation of Fassbinder's film script In a Year with 13 Moons was presented at Yale Repertory Theatre, directed by Robert Woodruff and featuring Bill Camp. Louisa holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from Yale School of Drama, and a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University, UK. 

Louisa is represented by Arsis Artists. Contact: Nicole Braunger nbraunger@arsis-artists.com

More info here: LOUISA PROSKE ARTIST PAGE | ARSIS ARTISTS

Upcoming directing projects: 

Primero Sueño - Mexico City & Puebla - December 2025

On the Town - Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf/ Duisburg - Spring 2026

Die Verzauberte Stadt - World Premiere - Aalto Theater Essen - Spring 2026

Macbeth - Metropolitan Opera New York - Fall 2026

Unannounced Title - Detroit Opera - Fall 2026

Unannounced Title - Opéra de Paris (Bastille) - Winter 2027 and Spring 2027