 A former member of the Canadian Opera Company (COC) ensemble, he worked as staff assistant director at the COC from 1988-93.After freelancing as an assistant director in Europe and the US (Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, Salzburg Festival, De Nederlandse Opera, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Teatro de la Zarzuela, The Washington Opera) he made his stage directing debut in 1996 at the Spoleto Festival (Italy) with Handel's "Semele".In Spoleto, he co-directed Prokofiev's "War and Peace" together with festival founder and composer, Gian Carlo Menotti.