B i o g r a p h y
Opera News calls director Jeffrey Marc Buchman "a formidable talent.”, and the South Florida Classical Review claims "Buchman has mastered an art beyond the powers of many directors". He is in demand as much for new opera as he is for fresh, compelling productions of the operatic classics. Constantly pushing the limits of the performing arts, his innovation puts him at the forefront of a new era in directing, including endeavors that include serving as Artistic Director for the dynamic multimedia arena event entitled “Live Arts”, that involved some 1,200 performers on 4 stages, including the Grand Rapids Symphony, Grand Rapids Ballet, Opera Grand Rapids and Broadway Grand Rapids.
In contemporary opera, he has recently created productions of As One (Laura Kaminsky) for Hawaii Opera Theatre and Opera Colorado, 27 (Ricky Ian Gordon) for Michigan Opera Theatre, No Exit by Andy Vores (named "One of the Best & Brightest of 2014") for Florida Grand Opera, and the world-premieres of three operas - Tesla, Fairy Tales: Songs of the Dandelion Woman, and Intelligent Systems (named one of the "Most Innovative Productions of 2015"), all by composer Carson Kievman.
Recent seasons have seen a return to several companies, including Florida Grand Opera for A Streetcar Named Desire and Agrippina, Toledo Opera for Il Trovatore and the Academy of Vocal Arts for La Bohème. He also created the world-premiere of The Leopard (Dellaira/McClatchy) for Frost Opera Theater, conducted by Gerard Schwarz. Mr. Buchman directed Jake Heggie's Three Decembers, Daron Hagen's New York Stories, Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti and Pasatieri's Signor Deluso, all for Florida Grand Opera in their 2020-2021 season. That season, he also returned to Opera Naples for La Traviata and created "Menotti ReMixed" and "Masquerade 2021" at the University of Miami Frost Opera Theater.
Other recent engagements have included Eugene Onegin, Rigoletto, La bohème and Die Zauberflöte for Florida Grand Opera, Carmen for Atlanta Opera, Tosca for Opera Tampa, Carmen for Opera Carolina, Il barbiere di Siviglia for Lyric Opera Baltimore, La bohème, Carmen and L'Elisir d'Amore for Toledo Opera, Romeo et Juliette, La fille du regiment, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi for Intermountain Opera, Manon Lescaut and Turandot for Mobile Opera, Il barbiere di Siviglia and La tragédie de Carmen for Syracuse Opera, Cold Sassy Tree for Sugar Creek Symphony & Song, Rigoletto and South Pacific for Anchorage Opera, Il barbiere di Siviglia for the Orlando Philharmonic, La Cenerentola for Green Mountain Opera Festival, Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro for the Miami Summer Music Festival, and La bohème, Carmen, Le nozze di Figaro, Turandot, Die Zauberflöte, Don Pasquale, Trovatore, Madama Butterfly and Faust for Opera Naples, which the critics claimed "set a new standard for the company".
Jeffrey Marc Buchman's work with young singers has been extensive. In addition to working with apprentices at both Sarasota Opera and Chautauqua Opera, he has created new productions of Roméo et Juliette, La traviata, Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni for the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrale (Donizetti) for Seattle Opera, Carmen, La bohème and La traviata for the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Hansel & Gretel for Sarasota Opera, Don Giovanni for UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, La bohème for Florida Grand Opera's studio artist program, L'elisir d'amore and La traviata for Cincinnati Conservatory of Music's Summer Program, Cosi fan Tutte and Die Zauberflöte for the Brevard Music Festival, Die Zauberflöte, Hansel & Gretel, Amelia Goes to the Ball, The Bartered Bride, La Divina, Lo speziale, Die Fledermaus and Cosí fan Tutte for the New World School of the Arts, and he is currently stage director and assistant professor at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he has created new productions of Suor Angelica, Gianni Schicchi, Mavra (Stravinsky), Ainadamar (Golijov), The Light in the Piazza, and an award-winning production of Cendrillon.
Mr. Buchman was on the Seattle Opera directing staff for productions of Tristan und Isolde, Lucia di Lammermoor, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Don Quichotte, Porgy and Bess, Carmen and The Magic Flute.
Jeffrey Marc Buchman regularly teams up with wife and renowned choreographer, Rosa Mercedes. Their collaborations have included acclaimed productions of Carmen, La traviata, Don Giovanni, Romeo et Juliette, La Cenerentola, Il Trovatore, Rigoletto, La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, The Bartered Bride, Cosi fan tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Hansel & Gretel, Die Fledermaus, Il barbiere de Siviglia, Ainadamar, Cendrillon and the Spanish zarzuela Luisa Fernanda.
He began his music studies at the Baltimore School for the Arts and later at the Interlochen Arts Academy. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Opera from the Boston Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music degree in Voice from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in his native city of Baltimore, Maryland. He studied German at the Goethe Institut in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany and Spanish at the Instituto Cervantes. He trained in the Young Artist Program of the Florida Grand Opera, where he later was honored with the company's Evelyn P. Gilbert Award, and also in the Studio and Apprentice Artist Programs of Central City Opera, where he was awarded their Studio Artist of the Year award. Winner of the prestigious Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, Mr. Buchman began his work in opera as an acclaimed singer noted for his ability to merge acting and singing. Other prizes include First Prize in the National Voice Competition of the National Society of Arts and Letters and a Richard F. Gold career grant from the Shoshana Foundation.
