Karen Quisenberry joined Minnesota Opera as Production Director in August 2013. Since her arrival she has had the privilege of working on a number of world premiers including The Manchurian Candidate, The Shining, and Dinner at Eight, while helping to develop creative design teams for more established pieces such as Das Rheingold, Rigoletto, Thais, and La Rondine. Prior to coming to Minnesota she served as the Production Director and Director of New Work at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, as well as the Director of Level21 (the BFA and MFA division of Design, Technology, and Management) at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. While at Krannert Center she oversaw the creation of new works by Mikel Rouse, Bebe Miller, Ralph Lemon, The Builders Association, and Karole Armitage, among others, while developing educational interactions for students in the fields of theatre, opera, dance, and performance art. Before making the move to Illinois, Karen taught stage management at the Yale School of Drama and was the Production Stage Manager at the Yale Repertory Theatre, having moved there from her initial artistic home of Seattle, Washington.