American Director Lesley Koenig made her San Diego Opera debut in 1995 directing La bohème and returned in 1998 for The Marriage of Figaro. Koenig has been a stage director of opera for almost twenty years in top houses and festivals worldwide. She began her career at San Francisco Opera at 17 as a stage manager and was engaged as a stage director at the Metropolitan Opera when just 23 – the youngest director then hired to date. She has directed over 30 productions at the Met, including a highly acclaimed new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte with Levine in 1996. She holds three shared Emmy Awards from the Met for Outstanding Classical Program in the Performing Arts. In 1998, Koenig took a sabbatical from her directing career to pursue further education and, in 2001, earned two Masters degrees from Stanford University, an MBA and an MA in Education. Shortly thereafter, she joined San Francisco Ballet as General Manager in charge of all operations, including managing the opening of over 60 new productions and acquisitions during her tenure and authored and realized the company’s five-year strategic plan that saw the Ballet through its 75th anniversary season. Koenig subsequently left the Ballet and returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Assistant Manager and Director of Production. Most recently, she was General Director for Opera Boston, accepted a Fellowship at Stanford University in the Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society and consults with the Stanford’s Institute for Creativity and the Arts. In addition to her graduate school education at Stanford, Koenig holds degrees from Concord Academy and from Harvard University, with honors, in Fine Arts.