Travis Preston is an internationally celebrated director of theater and opera. He is Artistic Director of the Center for New Performance at Cal Arts, the professional producing arm of California Institute of the Arts. He directed the acclaimed production of Macbeth with Stephen Dillane for CNP at REDCAT. This project opened at the Almeida Theatre in London this past fall and traveled to Sydney and Adelaide, Australia in the spring. Recent projects include Boris Godounov and a highly controversial production of Luigi Nono's Al Gran Sole Carico D'Amore – both at the Hamburg State Opera. In 2001 he directed the opening performance at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. He directed the groundbreaking production of King Lear that inaugurated the Center for New Performance. This production received critical acclaim in the U.S. and Europe, where it was presented at the Frictions Festival in Dijon, France. Upcoming projects include The Long Road to Freedom with Harry Belafonte to be presented at the Kennedy Center in 2009. This year he was named Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture for “contributions to the arts in France and throughout the world.”

His work in the United States includes the world premiere of Democracy in America at the Yale Repertory Theater; the American premiere of Buero-Vallejo's The Sleep of Reason at Center Stage; the world premiere of Ted Tally's Terra Nova at the Yale Repertory Theater; and, the American Premiere of Roberto Zucco by Bernard-Marie Koltès. In collaboration with The Private Theater, Travis Preston created The Last American in Paris. He has been a Resident Director at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge as well as an Associate Artist at the Yale Repertory Theatre and Center Stage.

In 1996, Travis Preston directed Lulu by Alban Berg - a co-operation between the Danish National Symphony, the Grønnegåde Theater, and the Royal Family of Denmark. In New York he directed Hamlet, The Maids, The Ghost Sonata, Woyzeck, Infrared, Anguished Devotion, and Paradise Bound: Part II, a piece written together with Royston Coppenger and performed in Central Park. He also created Apocrypha, an original theater work presented at Cucaracha Theater.

Travis Preston has staged several seminal productions of plays by Henrik Ibsen. In association with the American Ibsen Theater (where he was Associate Director) he directed A Doll House, Little Eyolf, and Ghosts. His production of Little Eyolf was subsequently remounted at the Yale Repertory Theater. In addition to Lulu, he has mounted the operas Don Pasquale, Falstaff, Don Giovanni, and Saul and the Witch of Endor. He has directed acclaimed productions of Semiramide (Minnesota), Boris Godounov (Germany) and The Pearl Fishers (St. Louis). In Europe he has directed Prometheus Bound (Poland), Alexander (Norway), The Seagull (England), and Macbeth (Denmark). He has also directed The Balcony in Hong Kong.

His first feature film, Astonished, has received critical acclaim throughout the world, including festivals in Montreal, Florence, Munich, Paris, Cairo, and Hong Kong. Revolution, a film he produced in 1990, was invited to festivals in Florence, Rotterdam, London, and Houston - where it was awarded first prize.

He has taught at many universities and theater training programs throughout the world: The Yale School of Drama, Columbia School of the Arts, New York University, the National Theater School of Denmark, Indiana University, Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, and Harvard University, where for six years he was Director of the Harvard Summer Drama Program. He is currently Director of Programs in Performance at CalArts.