“Opera is more than performance—it's a conversation between time and memory, music and vision, self and world.”
Beatrice Ruobin Huang is an opera stage director, singer, and storyteller whose work brings together music, visual imagination, and historical inquiry. With a background in opera performance and communication, she approaches opera not only as an art form but as an ongoing dialogue across time, place, and people.
Born and raised in China, Beatrice began her musical training at the South China University of Technology, where she earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Vocal Performance and Communication Studies. She continued her studies as a singer at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, where she trained under Italian soprano Prof. Adelina Scarabelli and immersed herself in Italian opera traditions. After returning to China, she studied with renowned soprano Prof.Sen Guo, and later pursued graduate studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, under the mentorship of renowned tenor Prof. Yijie Shi. As a trained soprano, Beatrice has appeared in over 30 opera gala concerts and recitals.
Her transition into directing began under the mentorship of Dr. Helen Sohyun Park, whose guidance encouraged her to rethink space, character, and narrative in opera. Beatrice is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Opera Directing at the Butler School of Music, University of Texas at Austin, where she studies with Garnett Bruce and continues to explore her artistic voice through productions, academic inquiry, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
In 2024, Beatrice directed a semi-staged Le Nozze di Figaro at the Longgang Cultural Center in Shenzhen, where she also served as host, guiding the audience through Mozart’s comic masterpiece. One audience member remarked, “I never knew opera could be this humorous and entertaining before.” That summer, she co-directed the Chinese opera The August 1st Uprising with Yufan He at Hunan Normal University. Later that year, she co-directed L’enfant et les sortilèges with Garnett Bruce at the Butler Opera Center.
In summer 2025, she will join Chicago Summer Opera as assistant director for Gianni Schicchi and The Medium, working under director Mark Ross Clark. During the 2025–2026 season, she will direct Gianni Schicchi and an opera scenes program at the Butler Opera Center, and assist on Cendrillon, working under director Garnett Bruce.
As an assistant director, Beatrice has contributed to contemporary opera productions including The Ghosts of Versailles and Schoenberg in Hollywood, as well as an Eco Opera production of Don Giovanni.
Outside of directing, Beatrice is deeply involved in academic research. Her study, “Orpheus through History: The Myth of Orpheus in Opera,” received the Silver Award at the First Graduate Research Forum at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.
A passionate communicator, Beatrice was a debater during her undergraduate and graduate years in China, and has delivered talks at universities. Her background in communication continues to shape her voice: she is the creator and host of Manyanshuning, a podcast about music, musicians, and the stories that connect them. Through candid conversations with peers and professionals, the show offers a relaxed yet thoughtful space for sharing ideas, experiences, and questions about life in and around music.
Beatrice believes deeply in the power of storytelling and communication. Through her work, she seeks to make opera a space where past and present can meet, where the stage becomes a bridge, and where stories continue to sing.