Nick Gisonde is a stage director, fight choreographer and actor. He is making his South Bend Lyric Opera directing debut. Nick recently directed The Magic Flute and returned for his fourth season as co-stage director for the SOARS opera scenes program for the Bay View Music Festival. Other directing credits include Così fan tutte (North Shore Music Festival) and Macbeth (Endless River Arts). He co-directed Pierre Corneille's El Cid with Risa Renae Harman (The Pendragon Ensemble). He staged the premiere of Shakespeare Cabaret, a series of songs based on Shakespeare's monologues written by Emmy Award winning composer Glen Roven, accompanied with scenes from the plays, featuring soprano Risa Renae Harman and pianist Casey Robards at Central Michigan University.

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Nick has coordinated fights and stunts for theatre, opera and film for over 25 years. He has been the resident Fight Choreographer for the Bay View Music Festival since 2001. He recently staged the fights for his fourteenth Bay View production of West Side Story. Nick appeared in and was Fight Captain for the 1998 Tony Award Winner, A View from the Bridge, directed by Michael Mayer and starring Anthony LaPaglia and Allison Janney. Nick has been a Fight Choreographer and Stage Violence Consultant for Stage Director Crystal Manich for such companies as Boston Lyric Opera, Tulsa Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and Opera Omnia in New York City. He choreographed the fights for George Cederquist's modern edgy staging of Carmen (Bay View Music Festival). Other Bay View credits include Falstaff, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, La Boheme, and Kiss Me Kate. He was the Fight Choreographer for the Off Broadway play, Beautiful Thing (Cherry Lane Theatre). www.nickgisondefights.com