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). Their work as a projection designer was seen in Ana María Martínez’s Noche Española recital at Rice University, Die Fledermaus at Binghamton University, The Seven Deadly Sins at the Salina Symphony, and the Schwabacher Summer Concert at the Merola Opera Program.

In the 2023-2024 season, Elio directed a new production of La bohème; collaborated with pianist Tamar Sanikidze on Song Re-Imagined, a staged multimedia art song recital; and assisted on a new production of Tan Dun’s Tea: A Mirror of Soul at the Butler Opera Center in Austin, TX. Their production of La bohème received third place in the National Opera Association’s Opera Production Competition. Additionally, they were the projection designer for Suor Angelica & Gianni Schicchi at Binghamton University. In the summer, Elio joined Wolf Trap Opera as a Directing Fellow. While in residence, they directed Weill & Brecht’s The Seven Deadly Sins, served as the assistant director of Puccini’s La bohème, and as the dramaturg for the piano-vocal workshop of Sankaram & Kelly’s The House of Yes.

In the 2022-2023 season, they directed undergraduate opera scenes and served as the assistant director for Proving Up and Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Butler Opera Center. They were the projection designer for Binghamton University’s production of L’incoronazione di Poppea. In the summer, Elio joined the Music Academy of the West as the Lehrer Vocal Institute Directing Fellow. There, they directed Jake Heggie’s Here and Gone; the cover performance of La bohème; served as the assistant director on the summer’s mainstage productions of La bohème and Cabaret: 1979; staged ensembles and designed projections for Music Academy’s Una noche en Miraflores, an evening of Spanish-language music curated by Ana María Martínez and Cesar Cañon; and worked with voice fellows in 1:1 dramatic coachings. They were named a Finalist in the Music Academy Fast Pitch Competition for their proposal to leverage Mixed Reality (AR/VR) technology to develop creative solutions for accessibility in the opera house.

A champion for contemporary opera, Elio regularly collaborates with performers, composers, and librettists to present new work. Most recently, they served as the dramaturg for a workshop of The House of Yes, an opera by Kamala Sankaram, Michael Kelly, and Kathleen Kelly (Wolf Trap Opera). Elio directed the Chicago premiere of Melissa Dunphy’s The Gonzales Cantata (Northwestern University), and served as the assistant director of the Chicago premiere of David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s Dog Days (Northwestern University) and the world premiere of Michael Ching’s Alice & Anna (Savannah VOICE Festival), in addition to new productions of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Proving Up and Tan Dun’s Tea: A Mirror of Soul at the Butler Opera Center.

Elio’s artistic pursuits began as a member of the San Francisco Boys Chorus, with whom they sang onstage as a children’s chorister at the San Francisco Opera, on international tours, and at the first Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama. Trained as an operatic baritone, Elio has been seen on stage in past seasons as Marcello (La bohème), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), Jonathan (If I Were You), El Gallo (The Fantasticks), Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore), Starveling (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Somarone (Béatrice et Bénédict). While at Northwestern, they sang with the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble under the direction of Donald Nally. They studied voice with Nancy Gustafson, W. Stephen Smith, and Marlena Malas.

As a composer of music for the voice, Elio’s work has been performed by singers and choirs across the United States. At the age of 17, Elio became the youngest winner of the Chanticleer Student Composer Competition. Their winning composition, Shalom!, received its world premiere by Chanticleer and over 200 choristers from schools around the country at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, CA. It is published as part of the Chanticleer Choral Series (Hinshaw Music).

Elio holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in voice and opera performance from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, and a master’s degree in opera directing from the Butler Opera Center. As an undergraduate, they simultaneously completed a Bachelor of Music in Voice and Opera Performance, a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies, and the Integrated Marketing Communications Certificate. They graduated magna cum laude with departmental honors in both fields. An enthusiastic collaborator, Elio has assisted leading directors, including Tomer Zvulun, Omer Ben Seadia, James Darrah, and Mo Zhou. They have held prestigious directing fellowships at the Merola Opera Program, Wolf Trap Opera and the Music Academy of the West, and trained as a singer at the Chautauqua Institution.

Elio is queer & nonbinary. Her work proudly celebrates plurality, truth, and innovation in the creative process. He was born & raised in San Francisco, CA. In their free time, they enjoy walking, cooking elaborate meals, and maintaining a healthy media diet of podcasts and television shows.