Nora Winsler (she/her) is an opera and theater director based in San Diego, California. She has assisted leading directors such as Mary Birnbaum (Barber of Seville at Opera Columbus), Brenna Corner (Carmen at Des Moines Metro Opera), Tomer Zvulun (Die Walkure at The Atlanta Opera), and Francesca Zambello (Tenor Overboard at The Glimmerglass Festival). Nora has directed her own original productions at Virginia Opera (The Barber of Seville), Opera North (All is Calm, Extraordinary Women), and is set to direct Verdi's La traviata and Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg at The Kentucky Opera this upcoming season.

Recently, Nora made her debut with The Dallas Opera as Assistant Director and Movement Director for Joachim Schamberger’s production of Orfeo ed Euridice, and Associate Director for Tomer Zvulun's production of La bohème. This summer, she will return to Des Moines Metro Opera where she will serve as Head of Directing Staff and choreograph The Flying Dutchman.

Previously, while based on the East Coast, Nora was the Resident Assistant Director at the Virginia Opera for two seasons and The Atlanta Opera Glynn Studio Artist Stage Director for one. During her time at Virginia Opera, she toured seven productions across the state and directed their outreach production of Jack and the Beanstalk. In Atlanta, she assisted every production in the 2023-24 season (including Brian Staufenbiel’s production of The Shining) and directed Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Another Sunrise starring soprano Esther Tonea.

Nora holds a Bachelor’s of Music from James Madison University. She was a Young Artist with The Glimmerglass Festival in 2022 and has trained as an intimacy choreographer with Theatrical Intimacy Education. In 2022, she was selected for Opera America’s Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize, along with a creative team lead by Ian Silverman.