Peter Sellars

Peter Sellars has gained international renown for his groundbreaking and transformative interpretations of classics, advocacy of 20th-century and contemporary music, and collaborative projects with an extraordinary range of creative and performing artists. He has staged operas at Dutch National Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Opéra national de Paris, and the Salzburg Festival, among others.

In 2022, Sellars created a staging of Roman de Fauvel at the Théâtre du Chatelet in collaboration with the founder of the Sequentia Ensemble, Benjamin Bagby. Also in 2022, he staged composer Tyshawn Sorey’s Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) featuring artwork by Julie Mehretu for the Park Avenue Armory, New York, and Heinrich Schutz’s Musikalische Exequien with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

A revival of Sellars’ acclaimed production of Tristan und Isolde, with videography by artist Bill Viola, was performed at the Paris Opera early in 2023. Furthermore, Sellars is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at the University of California – Los Angeles.

He is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Erasmus Prize for contributions to European culture, the Gish Prize, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has been awarded the prestigious Polar Music Prize and was named Artist of the Year by Musical America (2014). In 2021, he was honored with the EBU-IMZ Lifetime Achievement Award for his body of opera video recordings.

Last update: 06-03-2023