Anna Rebek is a Mexican and Hungarian-American opera and theater director working in NYC. Anna received her BFA from Yale University in theater performance and was a member of the Yale Dramat. Anna acted professionally on stage and film for 20 years, and toured internationally with the first female inclusive cast of Terrence McNally‘s Corpus Christi. She made the pivot into directing, and moved to New York City to attend Columbia’s MFA Program helmed by Anne Bogart, graduating in 2020. For the past two years Anna was awarded the Directing Fellowship at Juilliard and studied opera in their Vocal Arts department with Stephen Wadsworth. Last year she was elevated to faculty status there as well, helping to teach acting and movement to the singers, and assisted their 5 main stage operas, including Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and Rossi’s L’Orfeo. Anna made her opera directing debut in summer 2022 with the Prague Summer Nights Festival, directing Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro in the historic Estates Theater in Prague. She then traveled to Sault St Marie Michigan to work on Puccini’s La Boheme at the Soo Theater Company. This past fall, Anna directed an all-Latina theater production at CCNY in Spanish and English, then devised a production for Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, dedicating it to the Virgin of Guadalupe. Anna was also adjunct faculty at Montclair State University, teaching acting to singers and directing the winter opera, Gianni Schicchi & Buoso's Ghost at the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair University.
2021:
As in person, maskless work pushed forward, Anna was elevated to faculty status at Juilliard, helping to teach the Advanced Singers in the Artist Diploma post-graduate program. She started the year off with a three week introduction, sharing the class vocabulary around text analysis, doing a unit on Viewpoints movement (inherited from her Columbia training), giving feedback in individual coachings, and making sure the small group felt like a trusting space for both new and returning students to work together. Anna was also asked to assistant direct on 3 of the major productions of the year, Rossi’s L’Orfeo (Directed by Mary Birnbaum), Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (Directed by Louisa Muller), and Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor (Directed by Tara Faircloth).
2020:
Under the guidance of Stephen Wadsworth and Mary Birnbaum, Anna is the directing fellow for the Vocal Arts department at Juilliard this year. Anna participates in all daily exercises of the AD class (Acting for the Singing Actor, a post-graduate level course) and gives feedback to each singer as they learn to release their bodies in performance. She also participates in each singer's weekly coaching session with Stephen, developing trusting relationships with each student and establishing a vocabulary for how they interpret their growth as actors. The year has been a hybrid of online and in-person training, and Anna has adapted to the benefits of both.
As in person, maskless work pushed forward, Anna was elevated to faculty status at Juilliard, helping to teach the Advanced Singers in the Artist Diploma post-graduate program. She started the year off with a three week introduction, sharing the class vocabulary around text analysis, doing a unit on Viewpoints movement (inherited from her Columbia training), giving feedback in individual coachings, and making sure the small group felt like a trusting space for both new and returning students to work together. Anna was also asked to assistant direct on 3 of the major productions of the year, Rossi’s L’Orfeo (Directed by Mary Birnbaum), Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (Directed by Louisa Muller), and Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor (Directed by Tara Faircloth).
2020:
Under the guidance of Stephen Wadsworth and Mary Birnbaum, Anna is the directing fellow for the Vocal Arts department at Juilliard this year. Anna participates in all daily exercises of the AD class (Acting for the Singing Actor, a post-graduate level course) and gives feedback to each singer as they learn to release their bodies in performance. She also participates in each singer's weekly coaching session with Stephen, developing trusting relationships with each student and establishing a vocabulary for how they interpret their growth as actors. The year has been a hybrid of online and in-person training, and Anna has adapted to the benefits of both.
Testimonial from Joseph Parrish, Juilliard Baritone:
“Anna, I have been so lucky to work with you and really get to know you through that. You always have great things to say, directionally, and are just a lovely person in general. You’ve been here to track my growth consistently and have truly played a part in helping me develop. Appreciate you so much!”
“Anna, I have been so lucky to work with you and really get to know you through that. You always have great things to say, directionally, and are just a lovely person in general. You’ve been here to track my growth consistently and have truly played a part in helping me develop. Appreciate you so much!”
MFA in Directing from Columbia University
Undergraduate degree in Theater Studies from Yale University.