Here’s to art that dares, celebrates, and endures!

Rares Cristian Trifan is a Romanian stage director and arts manager. He was most recently a cultural attaché with the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. Previously he served as the general manager of the first National Opera in Romania, founded in 1919. Under his management the company produced national premiers of Candide, The Rake’s Progress, The Sound of Music, and Maria de Buenos Aires, in addition to titles from the classic repertory. During his tenure, he founded the National Operas Festival, the first festival of its kind in Romania, and created the Opera Aperta program, which brought opera outdoors into unconventional spaces, redefining its accessibility for all audiences.

 

As stage director, Mr. Trifan brings theatrical insight to his work with singers. His artistic concepts are thoroughly researched and visually compelling. In addition, he designs the lighting for all his productions, as well as occasional the video concepts. New productions include Aida and La Cenerentola. Previous creations include La Fanciulla del West, Macbeth, La Forza del Destino, Der Fliegende Holländer, Turandot, Oedipe, Oreste/Oedipe, and Le Nozze di Figaro.

 

Mr. Trifan received a BA in Musical Theater and Opera Stage Direction from the National University of Music in Bucharest, a Master’s in Music from the Music Academy of Cluj, Romania, and a Master’s in Opera Stage Direction from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He is a former fellow of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and studied cultural management at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center. During his tenure with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he received certifications in E-Diplomacy, Bilateral Diplomacy and Multilateral Diplomacy, and Communication and Public Diplomacy.

 

Mr. Trifan is a member of the Romanian Association of Theater Artists (UNITER).