During HGO's 2026-27 season, internationally recognized opera and theater director Francesca Zambello directs her production of Show Boat. Zambello has been the Artistic Director of the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center since 2013. She is also the Artistic & General Director of the Glimmerglass Festival, Emerita. She served as the Artistic Advisor to the San Francisco Opera from 2005 to 2011 and as the Skylight Theatre’s Artistic Director from 1987 to 1992. Zambello’s U.S. directing debut took place at HGO with a production of Fidelio (1984), and she has since directed almost two dozen productions for the company. During HGO’s 2025-26 season, she directed her production of Porgy and Bess. Earlier in 2025, she directed HGO’s new production of Tannhäuser, and in 2024, she directed the company’s record-breaking The Sound of Music production. Zambello has worked at more than 50 international and national opera houses, and her theatrical work has been seen on Broadway, at regional theaters, and on European stages. She has been awarded a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, a Knight with the Order of the Star of Italy and received the Russian Federation’s Arts Medal for her service to culture. Other honors include three Olivier Awards from the London Society of Theatres and two Evening Standard Awards, and she has twice received the French Grand Prix des Critiques for her work at the Paris Opera. She also received the Medallion Society Award from San Francisco Opera, recognizing 30 years of work for the company, including directing the Ring cycle in 2011 and 2018.