Director and designer Elio Bucky is a bold new voice in opera, celebrated for their inventive staging, engaging storytelling, and deeply collaborative approach.

Elio’s work has been featured at companies across the United States, including The Atlanta Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Butler Opera Center, and the Music Academy of the West.

Most recently, Elio joined the Merola Opera Program as their Apprentice Stage Director. There, they directed the Merola Grand Finale at the War Memorial Opera House, earning praise for striking “a fine balance between pathos, comedy, and tragedy…with suave panache” (San Francisco Chronicle). Additionally, they served as the assistant director of Rossini’s Le comte Ory, directed by Garnett Bruce and conducted by Pierre Vallet, and co-directed the Schwabacher Summer Concert with Omer Ben Seadia.

In the 2024–2025 season, Elio joined The Atlanta Opera as their Studio Stage Director, assisting Tomer Zvulun on productions of Rent, La bohème, The Magic Flute, Macbeth, and Siegfried. In February, Elio reunited with conductor John Morris Russell and artists from Wolf Trap Opera to remount their acclaimed production of The Seven Deadly Sins with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. In May, Elio made their debut with Cincinnati Opera as the Revival Director of Rigoletto, hailed for their “elegant stage direction” of a “stunning production that riveted from beginning to end” (Cincinnati Business Courier).

Elio is a queer and nonbinary artist who proudly advocates for plurality, inclusion, and innovation throughout the creative process. Elio was born and raised in San Francisco, where they were a member of the San Francisco Boys Chorus and attended the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. They trained as a singer at Northwestern University and the Chautauqua Institution, and hold a master’s degree in opera directing from the Butler Opera Center at UT Austin. An award-winning composer of music for the voice, their music has been performed by ensembles including Chanticleer and the Madison Choral Project. Their work as a projection designer has been featured on stages and concert halls across the country, including Rice University, Wolf Trap Opera, Binghamton University, and the Salina Symphony.