After taking a doctorate in Philosophy and Literature at Oviedo University, Emilio Sagi moved to London to study Musicology. In 1980 he made his debut as a director with La Traviata in Oviedo, his native city. From 1990 to 1999 was he was general director of the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, where his first production, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale in 1982, was followed by many subsequent opera and zarzuela productions. From 2001 to 2005 he was artistic director of Teatro Real in Madrid.

Mr. Sagi’s stage experience covers styles ranging from baroque zarzuela to modern opera, and he has directed at a host of leading national and international theaters and festivals: the Teatro Communale in Bologna, La Fenice in Venice, La Scala in Milan, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Sao Carlos in Lisbon, Théâtre de l´Odéon in Paris, Teatro Colón and Teatro Avenida in Buenos Aires, Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile, Los Angeles Opera, Washington Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New Israel Opera in Tel-Aviv, Vienna Volksoper, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Opéra de Strasbourg, Opéra de Bordeaux, Opéra de Nice, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Opéra de Genève, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Nissei Theatre, Bunka Kaikan Theatre and New National Theater in Tokyo, Hong Kong Opera Festival, Teatro de la Maestranza  in Seville, Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, Gran Teatre del Liceu in  Barcelona and Teatro Real  in Madrid.

Forthcoming commitments will see him directing works at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Theater an der Wien in Vienna, the Leipzig Opera and in return visits to Teatro Sao Carlos in Lisbon, Los Angeles Opera, Washington Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New Israel Opera in Tel-Aviv, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Opéra de Nice, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Palacio Euskalduna in Bilbao, Teatro Real in Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu and Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo.