During HGO’s 2026-27 season, GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Patricia Racette makes her HGO directorial debut in this new staging of Susannah. Her roles at HGO include Madame de Croissy in Dialogues of the Carmelites (2022); the title role in Tosca (2010); Alice Ford in Falstaff (2005); Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly and the title role in Jenůfa (2004); Elisabetta de Valois in Don Carlo (2001); Love Simpson in Cold Sassy Tree (2000); Margherita in Mefistofele (1999); and Violetta in La traviata (1999). Racette made her directorial debut in 2018 with a new production of La traviata at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where she was recently named Artistic Director, in addition to serving as the Artistic Director of OTSL’s Gerdine Young Artist and Richard Gaddes Festival Artist programs, which she has led since 2019. In 2026, she directed a new production of A Streetcar Named Desire for the company. Other recent productions Racette directed include Romeo and Juliet at Arizona Opera, Don Giovanni for the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, The Ghosts of Versailles at Rice University, The Consul for San Francisco Conservatory, the Lindemann Patron Scenes Concert for The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Program, and both Rising Stars and An Evening of Scenes for the Ryan Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Among her recognitions are an Opera News Award, the prestigious Richard Tucker Award, and the Marian Anderson Award. Racette received the 2017 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording for her performance in LA Opera’s production of The Ghosts of Versailles.