Biography
Director/Choreographer
Candace Evans is a director and choreographer known internationally for the clarity of her story telling; praised by Opera News for her “flawless sense of timing.” Through the interplay of music, movement and text, she brings stories to life and audiences to their feet.
Frequently asked to develop new productions, Ms. Evan’s Akhnaten has been selected by the Philip Glass organization to be produced as a definitive version DVD. Her Three Decembers for the Fort Worth Opera Festival was reviewed as "bringing characters vividly to life", and her L’Italiana in Algeri for Opera Southwest was reviewed as “riveting and effervescent.”
With a career of directing and choreographing over eighty operas, musicals, plays, and ballets, Ms. Evans is known for her collaborative spirit and critically praised work. Her production of La Viuda Alegre for the legendary Teatro Colón was voted one of the top three operas of the season by the ArgentinIan National Music Critics Association. Similarly acclaimed among Top Ten classical music events were her Merry Widow for the Dallas Opera and her Carmen and Eugene Onegin for Madison Opera. Among other career favorites are Don Pasquale, which inaugurated Dallas Opera’s Winspear Opera House; Candide, Roméo et Juliette, La Bohème, Werther, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Ariadne auf Naxos for a variety of regional and international houses.
Relocating from New York City, Ms. Evans put her MFA in Classical Theatre to work at Southern Methodist University where she taught for the theatre/music departments from 1994-2000. Now much in demand for her private coaching and master classes, her resume of training as an opera singer, dancing with the Wisconsin Ballet Company, and touring the world as a stage actor give her a unique ability to interconnect the disciplines essential to artistic success. She focuses on clear and supportive communication with singers to integrate voice, mind and body for a release of true emotional and physical freedom. An essential component of her teaching is the use of neutral and character masks to encourage the development of physical connection for opera singers.
Candace Evans directing "Don Pasquale" for The Dallas Opera at the Winspear Opera House
Candace as Mentor
Candace is passionate about the mentoring of rising singers. She holds an MFA in classical acting/direction, and spent several years teaching for both the music and theatre departments of Southern Methodist University. Combining these experiences with her years of extensive dance and vocal training, and her own national/international performance experiences, she considers it an honor to ‘pay it forward.’
Accomplishing this goal in the collegiate world, she has been invited to direct/teach at Yale University (2 productions), Indiana University (8 productions), Carnegie Mellon University (2 productions) and Shenandoah University (1 production/filmed during Covid). She has also directed/created multiple programs for YAP singers at the Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Taos Opera Institute, Seagle Colony, Musica Nelle Marche, Oberlin in Italy, and La Musica Lirica. With a focus on acting for singers, and the physical freedom needed to create compelling characters, Ms. Evans uses theatre, dance and mask work to open young singers to their innate instincts and capabilities.