Ben Richter

Ben Cortez Richter, originally from Pleasanton, CA in the San Francisco Bay, has worked internationally as an opera stage director and assistant director. Having received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music and completed his master's degree work at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, both in Voice/Opera, he decided to leave the stage and pursue a career as a stage director. While living in Germany before relocating to Boston in 2020, Ben held several first assistant director positions at Oper Frankfurt, Badisches Staatstheater where he assisted and remounted beloved productions. He also served as and continues his work as a freelance assistant director and scenic staging choreographer at such theaters as Oper Köln, Staatstheater Berlin and Tiroler Festspiel.

Ben has assisted Barrie Kosky, Lydia Steier, David Herrmann, and Katharina Thoma among other notable European and American stage directors. In 2023, he joined the San Francisco Symphony in scenically coordinating performances of Pan by Marcos Balter with flutist Claire Chase in San Francisco and Cité de la Musique in Paris. During those performances, Ben led community members of both cities through staging called for in Balter’s moving piece. He has also created and stage directed numerous condensed operas for children featuring German language dialogue including La bohème, L’elisir d’amore, and Don Giovanni. Currently serving as Director of Artistic Operations at Boston Lyric Opera, Ben is thrilled to continue his scenic collaboration work with the BSO.