Martha Collins Named Director of Education for Sarasota Opera

August 17, 2021 – Sarasota

Sarasota Opera General Director Richard Russell and Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi have announced Martha Collins as the new Director of Education. She will be responsible for the development of Sarasota Opera’s Youth Opera and Adult Education programs and community engagement efforts.  

Ms. Collins has a long association with Sarasota Opera, having first joined the company in 2004 as a stage director for the Apprentice Artists program. She has since directed numerous mainstage productions, including Dialogues of the Carmelites (2017), Nabucco (2019), and Romeo and Juliet (2020), and most recently was stage director of The Happy Deception, and Dido and Aeneas, performed during the 2021 Winter and Spring Opera Festivals. She has directed the annual Sarasota Youth Opera production every year since 2005, including Rootabaga Country (2017) and Brundibar (2019). She has also directed at numerous other organizations including Tri-Cities Opera, Opera Southwest, New York University, and New England Conservatory. She has extensive teaching credits, including New York University, Swarthmore College, Brevard Music Center, and the Florence Voice Seminar in Italy. Ms. Collins will continue to direct productions for Sarasota Opera. 

Born in Ottawa, Ms. Collins gained much acclaim in Canada as both a concert and operatic performer. She has appeared with the Canadian Opera Company, Festival Ottawa, Vancouver Opera, Calgary Opera, Opera Lyra and Toronto’s Opera in Concert. In 1985 she was a finalist in the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, and in 1986 she was chosen to perform for Prince Charles and Princess Diana at the opening gala of the World’s Fair in Vancouver, British Columbia. On the silver screen, Ms. Collins appeared in the 1987 Norman Jewison film “Moonstruck,” in the role of Mimi. On her new position with Sarasota Opera, Ms. Collins states, “I am excited to take on an expanded role in passing on this art form that I love to others.”