Marion Kessel’s varied career in producing performing arts documentaries is rooted in her early training at the University of Cape Town School of Music with concentration in piano and percussion. She subsequently had experience in orchestral performance, opera stage-managing, performing arts administration, and teaching experience. Her positions have included General Manager of the Texas Chamber Orchestra; Media Coordinator for Houston Grand Opera, and assistantships for Houston Grand Opera and Houston Symphony Orchestra. Her business acumen has lead to consulting with Chrysalis Repertory Arts Co., Delia Stewart Dance Co., and Cultural Arts Council of Houston, while her background in arts community service and television and stage work has earned her international recognition, including a regional Emmy award and awards from the International Film and Video Festival (WorldFest Houston).
Production highlights include: Hitting the High Cs (1999), profiling Houston Grand Opera’s artistic, educational, and community-related accomplishments; Directing plazacasts for Houston Grand Opera’s (HGO) Hansel & Gretel (1997), The Marriage of Figaro (1998), Mefistofele (1999), Nabucco (2000); Video director for HGO’s multi-media-modular-stage version of Carmen (1998); Video reflections of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time by Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony Chamber Players (2000); Writer and producer for The Making of a Monologue: Robert Wilson’s HAMLET (1995); Writer and producer for Arts Alive! for Houston Public Television (1988-93).
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Kessel came to the United States in the late 1960s. She currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
From the guide to the Marion Kessel Performing Arts collection MS 517., 1977-2000, (Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, TX)
