Malena Dayen is an Argentinian opera stage director and Princeton Hodder fellow. Last season, Ms. Dayen directed Dialogues des Carmélites at Montclair University as well as the first U.S. production of Menotti's La Médium in Spanish for Fort Worth Opera. She also joined the Metropolitan Opera as an assistant stage director for Deborah Colker's production of Ainadamar.

 

This season, in addition to her continued work at Montclair University, Ms. Dayen will reprise the critically-acclaimed El Oratorio Panhispánico, composed by Alejandro Zuleta for the MACC Ensemble.  Entirely in Spanish, this groundbreaking oratorio weaves contemporary classical sound with the rich rhythms of Latin America in an unforgettable multimedia production. She will also lead the World Premiere production of Derrick Wang’s Fearless for Opera Delaware, a new opera based on the story of Hazel Ying Lee, a trailblazing World War II aviator and member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Future seasons include a return to The Metropolitan Opera for their productions of Andrea Chénier as well as a new production of Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz’ El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, a magical-realist portrait of Mexico’s painterly power couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

 

Previous engagements include a concert version of Aida at Fort Worth Opera, which featured interactive projections, along with Roméo et Juliette, Carmen and Frida at Opera Naples.

 

In addition to her directing work, Ms. Dayen recently co-created luzAzul, an opera for very young audiences that premiered in New York City before touring to the Ziguzajg Festival in Malta and the Atta Festival in Türkiye. Malena also co-created and directed Bare Opera’s FireSongs by Thomas Cabaniss, presented in collaboration with National Sawdust at the Chelsea Factory in New York City. 

 

In 2020, Malena won 1st Prize in Catapult Opera’s competition for innovation in opera. She also directed Teatro Grattacielo’s video productions of Fedora and Mefistofele, works selected to the Munich Music Video Awards, the 4th Dimension Independent Film Festival, and the London International Music Video Awards. Additionally, she directed Cuando el fuego abrasa, a co-production of Opera Hispánica and Teatro Grattacielo featuring songs by Piazolla, De Falla's El Amor Brujo at LaMama in New York City, as well as Teatro Grattacielo's production of Mascagni's L'Amico Fritz at LaMama and the Festival of the Voice in Phoenicia, NY.

 

As the creative of Bare Opera, Ms. Dayen directed The Late Walk, a new opera in collaboration with Decameron Opera Coalition, which was inducted into The Library of Congress’ Performing Arts COVID-19 Response Collection. With Bare Opera, she has also directed Heroes of New York, another collaboration with DOC, as well as directed and starred in productions of Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires and Don Giovanni. She also co-created Bare Opera’s Exercises on The Presence of Odradek, a new experimental operatic work performed live online.

 

As an operatic mezzo soprano, Ms. Dayen received high praise from the New York Times, which called her performance in the world premiere of P. Moravec’s The Blizzard Voices at Carnegie Hall “Outstanding.” She made her début as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at the Teatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro and has also performed in Carmen, Manon Lescaut, Elektra and Thaïs at the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo.

 

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Malena is a Spanish music and tango specialist, performing this repertoire with orchestras worldwide.

 

Malena holds an MFA from CUNY Brooklyn College in the Performance and Interactive Media Arts program, as well as a MM and a PSD from the Mannes College of Music, The New School.

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Current as of May 1, 2025