JOANIE SCHULTZ is a freelance stage director in opera and theater based out of Chicago. Most Recently, she directed Il segreto di Susanna for Chicago Opera Theater’s contribution to National Opera Week, and Acis and Galatea for the Chicago Cultural Center Summer Opera.

She recently directed Carmen at the Bay View Music Festival in Bay View, Michigan. She has also directed one-act operas by Schubert, Mozart, Offenbach, Argento, and Wolf-Ferrari with graduate students in voice at the Chicago College of Performing Arts. At Chicago Opera Theater, she served as the assistant director on productions of Owen Wingrave, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle/Ewartung, Il ritorno d’Ulisse, and the upcoming production of Mose in Eggito.
Joanie is also an accomplished theater director, most recently opening a world premiere theatrical adaptation of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. She has directed in Chicago and New York, has been nominated for numerous awards, and has received fellowships from the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, The Goodman Theatre, and the Drama League. She is also a member of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab.

Ms. Schultz holds her MFA from Northwestern University and is on the directing faculty of Columbia College Chicago.