Born in 1945 in Athens, Aperghis grew up as the son of the sculptor Achille Aperghis and the painter Irène Aperghis. He is for the most part a self-taught painter and composer. In 1963 he moved to Paris. He has been influenced musically by composers such as Pierre Schaeffer; Pierre Henry; Iannis Xenakis; John Cage; and Mauricio Kagel. In 1971 »La Tragique histoire du nécromancien Hieronimoet et de son miroir« appeared, his first music theater work, and he became the highest profile representative of music theater in France. In 1976 he founded the theater group Atelier Théâtre et Musique (ATEM) in Bagnolet (which has been at Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre since 1991). The group performed more than twenty pieces there before disbanding, including »La bouteille à la mer« (1976); »Conversations« (1985); »Énumérations« (1988); »Jojo« (1990); »H« (1992); »Sextuor« (1993); and »Commentaires« (1996).

(Website)

Zoro Babel, born in 1967 in Peterskirchen in Upper Bavaria, Germany, is a musician, composer, and sound director. He already took part as a 14-year-old in courses for improvisation and jazz at Woodstock in the state of New York. As a composer, musician, and theater performer he works together with artists such as Achim Freyer; Urs Troller; and Günter Ballhausen. As a sound director he works with numerous contemporary composers, including Josef Anton Riedl; Dieter Schnebel; Helmut Lachenmann; Carola Bauckholt; and Vinko Globokar, as well as with renowned orchestras such as the symphony orchestra of the broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk and the Berliner Philharmoniker.

He received commissions to compose works for, among others, musica viva; the Donaueschinger Musiktage; and the Siemens Culture Foundation. Zoro Babel develops his own instruments and sound sculptures, for example mobile architectural sound pieces in public spaces, which were exhibited at, among others, Musikfestival Bern in 2015.

In 2001 he received the City of Munich's music grant, and in 2008 a project grant from the Erwin and Gisela Steiner Foundation.

Pauline Beaulieu, born in 1981 in France, studied political science, theater studies, and acting; she moved to Berlin in 2005. From 2007 to 2011 she studied directing at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art (thesis production: »The Trojan Women«, based on the play by Euripides; mentor: Luk Perceval). Between 2007 and 2012 she published a theater essay, four theater pieces, and a novel (publishing house Séguier). Since 2012 she has been working freelance and developing diversified forms of theater, performances, installations, choreography, and music. Her works have been performed at, among others, Sophiensaele and Uferstudios in Berlin; Théâtre de l'Epée de Bois in Paris; Staatstheater Halle; Grenzenlos Kulturfestival in Mainz; and the Festival Primeurs of the Saarländisches Staatstheater. In 2016 she adapted and directed »The House of Sleep« by Jonathan Coe at Theaterhaus Jena, and the performative music theater installation »Mnemo/scene: Echos« for the Munich Biennale.

Der Bühnen- und Kostümbildner Christian Beck wurde 1965 in Jena geboren und studierte Bühnenbild an der Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee. Er war Mitbegründer und Ausstattungsleiter am Theaterhaus Jena sowie Ausstattungsleiter am staatlichen Puppentheater Dresden und Thalia Theater Halle. Als freier Bühnen- und Kostümbildner arbeitete er unter anderem mit den Regisseuren Carlos Medina, Andreas Kriegenburg, Armin Petras und Annegret Hahn an der Volksbühne Berlin, am Schauspiel Leipzig, dem Theater der jungen Generation Dresden und dem Theater Mühlheim an der Ruhr. Mit dem Regisseur Enrique Vargas und dem Teatro de los Sentidos verbindet ihn eine langjährige Zusammenarbeit in Bogotá, Ljubljana, London, Aarhus, Modena und Barcelona. Für Mirko Borschts Inszenierungen entwarf er bereits mehrfach die Bühne, darunter für die Produktionen »Opferpopp«, »Sweet Dreams«, »Kristus – Monsters of Münster« und »Harper Regan« am Thalia Theater Halle, dem Centraltheater Leipzig und dem Schauspiel Hannover, sowie für Mirko Borschts Inszenierungen »Europa« und »Tod-krank.Doc« am Theater Bremen.

Jil Bertermann studied art with an emphasis on set design at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg (HFBK). After she received her diploma she worked for Opera Stabile at Staatsoper Hamburg, as well as for Rokokotheater Schwetzingen. The feature film TEENAGE RESPONSE by Eleni Ampelakiotou, for which she designed the sets, was shown in the official program of the 59^th Berlinale. From 2009-2012 she was an assistant set designer at Münchner Kammerspiele. At Kammerspiele she designed the sets for, among other productions, GLEIS 11 (»Track 11«) and MÜNCHEN/DIYARBAKIR by Christine Umpfenbach; THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? by Susanne Kennedy; HOTEL EUROPA by Johan Simons; HOLT MICH HIER RAUS (»Get me out of here«) and the city project MÜNCHEN KOMPLETT (»Complete Munich«) by Schorsch Kamerun; and DAS WAR AUF EINER LICHTUNG DA SIE ZUM ERSTEN MAL GELD DAFÜR NAHM (»It was in a clearing when she took money for it for the first time «) by Malte Jelden. She lives in Berlin.

Mirko Borscht was born in 1971 in Cottbus, Germany. He initially worked in Berlin as an assistant director and assistant cameraman. After working on two theater projects as co-director he directed in 1992 his first short film »Mäuseboxen« (»Mice Boxing«), which was followed by his second short film »Bastard!«. His work as a film and theater director has been marked essentially by collaborations with young adult amateur performers. In 2005 he directed his first feature-length film »Kombat Sechzehn« (»Combat Sixteen«), and in 2007 he directed the theater piece »Opferpopp«, which he developed for Thalia Theater Halle. In 2008 »Opferpopp« received the Hans Götzelmann Award, and in 2009 the project was awarded the »BKM – Prize for Education in Culture« by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in association with the Genshagen Foundation. He directed the pieces »Sweet Dreams« and »Day of the Oprichnik« (based on the novel by Wladimir Sorokin) at Centraltheater Leipzig. He worked on a version of the work »komA« by Georg Staudacher and Volker Schmidt for Junge Schauspiel Hannover in 2010, and he staged it at Tellkampfschule Hannover with 19 youths, two teachers, and two professional actors. After »Unfun« by Matias Faldbakken Borscht directed »Deutschland tanzt nicht« (»Germany doesn't dance«) at Centraltheater/Skala Leipzig, where it celebrated its premiere and opened the 2010/2011 season. There followed »Kristus - Monster of Münster« for Junge Schauspiel Hannover, and in 2012 a production of Simon Stephen's »Harper Regan« at Thalia Theater in Halle. Since the 2012/2013 season Mirko Borscht has been a theater director at Schauspiel and actively working with young actors at Theater Bremen; he directed Lars von Trier's »Europa«, and he developed with young adults a project about the right-wing radical Odfried Hepp under the title »Larger than life«, as well as directing the world premiere performance of Elfriede Jelinek's »Tod-krank.Doc» (»Deathly ill.Doc.«). There followed »Die Schutzbefohlenen« (»The Wards«) by Jelinek, as well as »Verbrennungen« (»Burns«) by Wajdi Mouawad. Borscht directed at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, among other works, »Woyzeck III«, based on the play by Georg Büchner.

(Facebook Profil)

Noémie Brun, born in Geneva in 1990, is a pianist and composer.

Noémie begins her composition studies at the Haute Ecole de Musique of Geneva with Nicolas Bolens in 2009. Then, she enters the class of Xavier Dayer in the Bern University of the arts (HKB) where she obtains in 2012 a bachelor’s degree in composition with honours. In parallel, Noémie studies the piano with Pierre Sublet and graduates in 2015. She is currently attending a master degree in Théâtre Musical in the HKB.

Her compositions have been performed in Europe and in the USA and played by ensembles and soloists like the Ensemble Makrokosmos (CH), Ensemble Vertigo (CH),  the Ensemble Réponses XX-XI (FR), the Ensemble Hodiernis (CH), Peter Evans (USA), Dave Eggar (USA) and Vesselin Gellev (GB). At present, she is resident composer of the Ensemble Instrumental et Vocal InterAlpin (FR). She had the opportunity to work with accomplished artists like François-Xavier Roth, Stefano Gervasoni, Helmut Lachenmann, William Blank, and Matthias Rebstock

Jørgen Callesen (*1966, Hjørring, Denmark) holds a Ph.D. in Information & Media Studies from Aarhus University and has worked with digital media and performance art for more than 20 years. As a practicing artist he has created performances, lectures and installations which often include digital, interactive and generative media. His work frequently has a queer perspective which question norms and aesthetics regarding gender and identity and the representation of the body. The pieces have been presented in different formats and venues ranging from art academies, galleries, theater festivals, TV interviews and site specific events all over Europe.

In both solo works and collaborative productions he is an imaginative physical artist developing subtle and engaging characters. He studied puppetry at The Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art, Berlin, Germany and image work with Kitt Johnson, X-act, Copenhagen, DK. Jørgen Callesen lives in Copenhagen where he works as the artistic director of the live art venue Warehouse9 established in 2007.

Born in 1978 in Tavanasa in the Canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, he lives in Biel, Switzerland, and writes in German and Romansh. His novel »Sez Ner« was published in 2009, followed by »Hinter dem Bahnhof« (»Behind the Train Station«) in 2010; »Ustrinkata« in 2012; »Fred and Franz« in 2013; »Nächster Halt Verlangen« (»Next Stop Desire«) in 2014; and his novel »Die Kur« (»The Cure«) in 2015. Excerpts from his works have been published in "Harper's Magazine" (New York) and in »Best European Fiction 2012« (U.S.). His texts have been translated into over twenty languages and his readings have taken him all across the globe, from Hong Kong to Moscow to Buenos Aires and all the way to New York. He has received numerous awards, including the Hölderlin sponsorship award; the Swiss Literature Prize; the ZKB Schiller Award; and he was nominated in the Netherlands for the European Literature Award for his »Bündner Trilogie« (»Bündner Trilogy«). In 2015 the television broadcasters Swiss Television and 3sat Germany broadcast the documentary film »Arno Camenisch - Schreiben auf der Kante« (»Arno Camenisch – writing on the edge«).

(Website)

der chor: For eight years now 10 to 20 women have been meeting in living rooms in Munich and singing international, classical choir music. During their performances they like to perform in costume and with choreography, using playback or singing songs live, which are arranged and produced by the choir director Auður Jónsdóttir.

was born in South Africa, and after he studied voice the most significant roles he performed were Jupiter in "Semele"; Belmonte and Tamino in "The Magic Flute"; Nemorino in "L'elisir d'amore"; Ernesto in "Don Pasquale"; Lindoro in "L' Italiana in Algeri"; and Ferrando in "Così fan tutte." From 2001 to 2004 he was a member of the ensemble in Graz. Guest performances took him to, among others, the Wiener Kammeroper; Darmstadt; Cape Town; Johannesburg; Seville; the Innsbrucker Festwochen; and the Aldeburgh Festival. Since 2006 Andries Cloete has been a permanent member of the ensemble in Bern and most recently he performed there the roles of Jaquino in "Fidelio"; Malcolm in "Macbeth"; Pedrillo and Belmonte in "The Abduction from the Seraglio"; Schoolmaster and Mosquito in "The Cunning Little Vixen"; Egon von Wildenhagen in "The Cousin from Nowhere"; the Dancing Master and Brighella in "Ariadne auf Naxos"; Bob Boles in "Peter Grimes"; Renaud in Gluck's "Armide"; Monostatos in "The Magic Flute"; First Jew in "Salome"; Nobleman of Brabant in "Lohengrin"; Heger in "Rusalka"; and in "L'Orfeo" and in "Romeo and Juliet."

Born in 1977 in Israel, Cohen studied at the Berlin Weissensee School of Art, as well as at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts in New York. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. In his works he has developed his own very individual style of combining video, animation, graphics, and installation and performative aspects, where two- and three-dimensional objects and images interlace. 

(Website)

Estelle Costanzo (born in 1985 in Italy) studied harp under G. Bosio in Turin; C. Mathieu at the School of Music in Lausanne; S. O'Brien at the School of Music in Basel; and F. Cambreling at Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP). She won Second Prize at the international harp competition "V. Bucchi" in Rome (2012), and Second Prize at "Concours Nicati" in Bern (2015). She has been a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy since 2013. Estelle founded the new music ensembles "neuverband"; "TooHotToHoot"; and "ensemble viceversa." She worked at Theater Basel and with the Lucerne Festival on the show "HEROÏCA" ("Young Ears Prize" in 2014). Estelle has performed with the Intercontemporain ensemble; Berner Symphonie-Orchester; Sinfonietta Basel; Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogotà; Ensemble Phoenix; and at festivals such as Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele; ManiFeste IRCAM; MITO Settembre Musica; and Lucerne Festival, among others.

Marie Delprat (b. 1991, Bordeaux)
She began studying the recorder at the music conservatory in Bordeaux. At the same time she attended different academies, such as, for example, the early music festivals in Sablé and Lisieux, where she attended classes taught by Beengt Toïgo and Pierre Hamon. In 2009 she started her studies under Pierre Boragno at the music conservatory in Versailles, where she had the opportunity to perform during the "jeudis Musicaux" at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles (CMBV) under the direction of Olivier Schneebeli.

In 2012 she met Michael Form at Festival d'Urbino in Italy and started her studies at the Bern University of the Arts. There she discovered the world of music theater and took part in the project "Happy Hour," which was written by Hanz Wütrich; Pierre Sublet and Françoise Rivalland were in charge of the project.

Last year she received her bachelor's degree with honors in the recorder and she made the decision to expand her artistic field: she became involved in music theater and also in the area of early music.

In 2015 she began to study music theater under Xavier Dayer. In order to expand her knowledge of contemporary music she attended Jan van Hoecke's classes at the Institute of Advanced Musical Studies (HEMU) in Lausanne.

The ensemble she founded in Basel, El Gran Teatro del Mundo, has been "en résidence" at the Théâtre des Quatre Saisons for three years now. Here she has the opportunity to study chamber music under Amandine Beyer and the musicologist Olivier Fourès.

The dramatic mezzo soprano Kerstin Descher studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln under Monica Pick-Hieronimi, where she completed her final examinations and graduate recital and graduated with honors. She took master courses under Tom Krause; Brigitte Fassbaender; Irwin Gage; and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and she has a grant from the Richard Wagner Association. Following engagements at Theater Pforzheim from 1998 - 2001 and Theater Vorpommern from 2001 – 2007, she has been a permanent member of the ensemble at Theater Augsburg since the season 2007/2008. She has performed at Staatstheater Hannover; Kölner Philharmonie; Gewandhaus Leipzig; Beethovenhalle Bonn; Kammeroper Rheinsberg; Tiroler Festspiele Erl; Ystad Opern; and Palao di Valencia. Her repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Nono and her roles include Ulrica; Amneris; Azucena; Preziosilla; Erda; Ottavia; Carmen; and Charlotte. The broadcasters WDR and SWR have documented many of her performances, most recently her interpretation of Waldtaube in Schönberg's Gurre-Lieder.

So far in Augsburg she has performed the roles of the queen in "Schwanda, the Bagpiper"; Suzuki in "Madame Butterfly"; Princess Eboli in "Don Carlos"; Amneris in "Aida"; Leokadja Begbick in "Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny"; Brangäne in "Tristan und Isolde"; Countess Geschwitz in "Lulu"; Klytaemnestra in "Elektra"; and Carmen in the opera of the same name. For her achievements she received in 2008 the theater award of the magazine Augsburg Journal.

Born in 1987, Maxine Devaud grew up in Fribourg, Switzerland. After studying photography for two years at the École Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne, she studied musicology and art history at the University of Basel. The violin has accompanied Maxine Devaud almost her entire life, and as a violinist she was a member of the Swiss Youth Symphony Orchestra for many years. Since 2014 she has been an assistant director working on music theater and theater productions. She has worked with directors such as Calixto Bieito; Christian Zehnder; Ludger Engels; and Markus Bothe on successful productions at Opernhaus Zürich; Theater Basel; and Konzert Theater Bern. Maxine Devaud is currently working as an assistant director at Konzert Theater Bern.

This wood sculptress and communication designer (born in 1973) deals in her works with processes of growth and development, and with the transformation of matter and energy. In her work she moves within the borderlands of visual art, installation, and performance. In addition to numerous awards and grants, in 2000 she received a grant for one year from DAAD London, and in 2011 she received a working scholarship from the German Federal Cultural Foundation. In 2012 she received The City of Munich's music scholarship.

(www.judithegger.com)

The Munich based german flutist Karina Erhard mainly works in the field of contemporary chamber music. Above that she regularly searches for the contact point with the other arts.

Karina Erhard studied flute at the Conservatories of Amsterdam and Utrecht.

With her various chamber music groups she played at international festivals and won renowned prizes such as the 'Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition'.

Many composers have dedicated works to her or one of her ensembles.

The dramaturge, author, and director Ariel Farace is a co-founder of the artist collective »Compañía Vilma Diamante«. His works have been performed in Argentina; Mexico; Brazil; Uruguay; Germany, and Spain. In 2008 he directed Anja Hilling's piece »Nostalgia 2175« in Buenos Aires. Farace has received numerous awards for his works, including the Premio Fondo Nacional de las Artes and Premio Armando Discépolo.

(Website)

David Fennessy (b. 1976 Maynooth) began his musical life as guitarist in a school rock band but had no formal musical training until the age of fifteen when he decided to study classical guitar. He became interested in composition whilst studying for his undergraduate degree at the Dublin College of Music. In 1998 Fennessy moved to Glasgow to study for his Masters Degree at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with James MacMillan. He was later invited to join the composition faculty and has held a teaching post there since 2005.

Fennessy was shortlisted for the Gaudeamus Music Prize in Amsterdam in both 2000 and 2006 and was a finalist for the Philharmonia’s composition prize in 2004. His music has been chosen to represent Ireland at the International Rostrum of Composers.

In 2006/2007 Ensemble Modern awarded Fennessy a scholarship to study at their prestigious International Academy in Frankfurt. A Dewar Arts Award (Scotland) enabled him to live in Germany for 12 months where he created several works in close collaboration with the musicians of the Academy.

In 2010, he composed BODIES, written for the RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, and La Rejouissance – La Paix commissioned by Ensemble Modern for their 30th Anniversary celebrations, and also received a prestigious Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award. This British award, providing significant support over three years, aims to give artists the freedom to develop their creative ideas and contribute towards their personal and professional growth. In 2010/2011 he was a Fellow of the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart.

Fennessy’s music theatre work Pass the Spoon – a collaboration with director Nick Bone and visual artist David Shrigley – was premièred in Glasgow in November 2011. The creation of the work was made possible by a Vital Sparks Award from Creative Scotland.

Following a first contract with Universal Edition for his orchestral work This is How it Feels (Another Bolero), David Fennessy signed a major agreement in 2011 for his main catalogue of works.

Recent significant works include 5 Hofer Photographs for solo violoncello and Haupstimme, a work for solo viola and ensemble premiered by Garth Knox with Rednote Ensemble at last year’s Huddersfield Festival. Since 2012 he has been working on a trilogy of large scale works based on the diaries of the German film director Werner Herzog written during the production of the 1982 movie Fitzcarraldo.

Fennessy’s music has been performed nationally and internationally by many groups including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, Hebrides Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the RTE Concert Orchestra.

The bass-baritone Georg Festl was born in Nuremberg. He initially studied to become a teacher of music and English before he started studying voice in 2011 at the University of Music Würzburg under Professor Endrik Wottrich. He has worked together with artists such as Professor Christian Elsner; Reinhard Hagen; and with Hans Nieuwenhuis in particular; these collaborations have been a supplement to his education.

While still studying he was a guest performer at Mainfrankentheater Würzburg. It was here that he sang the role of Artie Green in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Sunset Boulevard." He also sang there the roles of A Cappadocian and Second Nazarene in a production of Richard Strauss' "Salome."

In 2014 he performed, thanks to a grant from the State of Bavaria and the Government of Quebec, several concerts in Montreal. There he participated in "Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyrique." That same year he also received a grant from the Richard Wagner Association.

He sang the bass-baritone roles in opera productions at the University of Music Würzburg, including Count Tomsky in "The Queen of Spades"; Satiro in Luigi Rossi's "Orfeo"; and Ivan in Bohuslav Martinů's "The Marriage." Before he began his studies he worked at Staatstheater Nürnberg as a singer in the extra chorus and as a background actor.

Georg Festl has been working under an apprentice contract at Theater Augsburg as of the season 2015/2016.

After his initial voice training with the Basel Boys Choir, he studied horn and voice in Biel/Bienne, Geneva, and Karlsruhe and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He performed at, among others, the Residenzwochen München; Les Pélerinages in Weimar; and at the Hugo Wolf Fest in Stuttgart. In addition to art songs he also devotes himself to oratorios, and he is very sought-after in this field, especially for the role of The Evangelist in Bach's Passions. He had engagements in baroque opera at Schloss Waldegg; the Lucerne Festival; and Theater Basel. Michael Feyfar received awards from the Ernst Göhner Foundation and the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund (MGB). Most recently he could be seen onstage at Konzert Theater Bern in the roles First Stranger in "The Cousin from Nowhere"; Scaramuccio in "Ariadne auf Naxos"; Reverend Horace Adams in "Peter Grimes"; Artémidore in "Armide"; Tamino in "The Magic Flute"; Narraboth und Second Jew in "Salome"; and Second Pastore and Second Spirito in "L'Orfeo."

Anja Füsti studied percussion in Stuttgart at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst with an emphasis on Neue Musik and chamber music. She continued her studies in Bern with Georges Aperghis and Françoise Rivallande at the Hochschule der Künste in the programm Théâtre Musicale et Composition and graduated with a highly acclaimed solo-perfomance.

Her work is focused on Neue Musik, free improvisation and Experimentelles Musiktheater. An intensive collaboration with choreograher Claudia Senoner resulted in several music and dance theater productions.

Further collaborations with composers like Martin Schüttler and Alan Hilario and ensembles like Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart and Ensemble Garage. She is playing at international festivals like the Biennale in Venice and Münchner Biennale – Festival für Neues Musiktheater.

Anja Füsti lives in Stuttgart.

Cristóbal Gajardo has a distinguish touch with the percussion instruments in both the orchestra and a chamber music fields. Mr. Gajardo has played with the National Symphony Orchestra of Chile, Youth Orchestra of the Americas, Schleswig Holstein Orchestral Academy, Baltimore Symphony and the Bayerische Staatsoper

He has toured Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Spain, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

As a chamber music player, he has performed in the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Carnegie Hall, Zankell Hall. Mr. Gajardo has a Percussion and Flute Duo “Luftwirbel” based in Munich.

Cristobal Gajardo holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, Peabody Conservatory and Yale University. He studied under Timothy K. Adams and Robert van Sice. Currently he is studying in the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München under Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Peter Sadlo.

The Brazilian bass José Gallisa studied initially violoncello before he switched to voice at the University of Minas Gerais. He studied for two years in London at the Royal Academy of Music with a grant from the Brazilian government. After he returned to his homeland he won First Prize in the Brazilian Ministry of Education's voice competition. Shortly afterwards he had his debut at the São Paulo opera house in the role of Talpa in "Il Tabarro," and as Simone in "Gianni Schicchi." On international stages José Gallisa has sung the roles of Lotario and Radamisto at the 30^th  London Handel Festival, conducted by Denys Darlow, and later on the role of Bartolo in "Le nozze di Figaro," conducted by Sir Colin Davies in London. He sang at the Dubai Opera Festival, and he sang the role of Zuniga in "Carmen" with the London City Opera on tour across the United States. At the Amazonas Festival he performed roles such as, among others, Sparafucile in "Rigoletto"; Le Comte des Grieux in "Manon"; and Fafner in "Siegfried." From 2004 to 2007 José Gallisa alternated singing in Rio de Janeiro; San Diego; and São Paulo. In 2008 José Gallisa had his debut in Germany at Theater Bremen. Since that time he has sung important roles such as, among others, Zacharias in "Nabucco"; Oroveso in "Norma"; Sarastro in "The Magic Flute"; Ramfis in "Aida"; Il Commendatore in "Don Giovanni"; Prince Gremin in "Eugen Onegin"; and the title role in Boito's "Mefistofele" (Staatstheater Mainz). Further engagements took him to Giessener Theater and Staatstheater Mainz. Since the season 2014/2015 José Gallisa has been a member of the ensemble at Theater Osnabrück. In the current season he is performing the role of Jacopo Fiesco in "Simon Boccanegra."

Béatrice Gaudreault-Laplante studied with Philippe Magnan, Lise Beauchamp, Éric Speller and Matthias Arter. In 2012, she received her Master's diploma from the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin and is now focusing on Théâtre Musical at the Bern University of the Arts.  Béatrice has played in the KKL Lucerne, Berliner Philharmonie and the Gewandhaus Leipzig with Sir Simon Rattle, Heinz Holliger, Pierre Boulez, and Peter Etvös, among others. In addition to classical repertoire, Béatrice is also passionate about modern works. Since 2012 Gaudreault-Laplante has played English horn in the new music ensemble “Ostravska Banda” and performed in a variety of festivals, including the Prague Spring Festival, Beyond Cage Festival (New York) and Klangwerkstatt Berlin. In 2012 and 2014, she was "akademist" with the Ensemble Intercontemporain (Lucerne Festival), Ensemble Moderne (Klangspuren Festival). Since 2014 Gaudreault-Laplante continues to develop her abilities within the universe of Théâtre Musical at the Bern University of the Arts. She has received scholarships from the Conseil des Arts du Canada, Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec and Les Offices Jeunesse Internationaux du Québec. In 2009, she won first prize in the Concours International de l’UFAM in Paris, and also first prize in her category for the Canada Music Competition in both 2005 and 2007.

Born in 1992, this soprano initially studied voice under Gabriele Zimmermann before she was accepted in 2009 while still in school as a young talented student into Heidrun Kordes' class at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She has been studying since 2010 under Professor Hedwig Fassbender. To supplement her education she took master courses under Helmut Deutsch at Sommerakademie Detmold and several chamber music courses conducted by the Landesmusikrat Hesse, as well as the chamber music course conducted by the Deutscher Musikrat.

She received, among other awards, an award as part of the German "Jugend musiziert" competition, and she received special awards from the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation and the Federal Union of German Associations of Pharmacists. Samantha Gaul won Third Prize at the German Voice Competition Berlin (junior). In addition, she has grants from the Richard Wagner Association Frankfurt am Main and the Da Ponte Foundation.

After engagements at Staatstheater Darmstadt; Burgfestspiele Bad Vilbel; and Stadttheater Giessen, Samantha Gaul received an apprentice contract for the season 2014/2015 from Theater Augsburg, where she has sung, among other roles, Jano in Janáček's "Jenufa"; the roles Sandman and Dewman in Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel"; and Serpetta in "La finta giardiniera" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Anna Gebhardt was born in Straubing in 1995 and started to take piano lessons at the age of five. In 2009, she won the first prize at the federal level of “Jugend musiziert” with the organ. In addition, she was honored with the “Geschwister-König-Gedächtnis Preis” with the flute two years later by her rural district. In 2012, she was admitted to the “youth sponsorship” program at the “University of Music and Performing Arts” in Munich. Since winter semester 2013/14 she studies piano in the class of Prof. Silke Avenhaus. Already at the beginning of her studies she was chosen by the University to give a concert with Prof. Dag Jensen and Prof. Francois Leleux as a part of the “Odeon Concerts”. She often participates in master classes: In the summer of 2015 she was invited to take piano lessons by Prof. Christian Ihle Hadland and Enrico Pace as part of the “International Chamber Music Festival” in Stavanger (Norway). Recently, her hometown Straubing honored her with the “Kulturförderpreis 2015”.

Hans-Henning Ginzel (b. 1988) is a composer and cellist. He has won several national instrumental competitions and received numerous grants and sponsorship awards, among others, from the City of Munich. He studied violoncello under Professor Helmar Stiehler at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, and also under Professor Iagoba Fanlo at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música in Madrid. Ginzel is the founder of the Arcis Cello Quartett and a cellist in the ensemble Breakout. Ginzel traveled to Taiwan on his first tour through Asia in 2015. That same year M Music Records also released his CD "ASTURIAS" with the Arcis Cello Quartett. Ginzel received his first instruction in composition from Dieter Acker, and he studied composition under Jan Müller-Wieland in Munich. As a cellist and composer he has worked with, among others, the Arditti Quartett; Ian Pace; Ensemble Plural (Madrid); Salome Kammer; Holger Falk; and Markus Wolf. Ginzel has received several international awards, such as, for example, First Prize in the Harald Genzmer Composition Competition; the Special Award of the 9^th New Composition Competition Chengdu (China); and First Prize in the Hugo Wolf Akademie composition competition. Ginzel participates in numerous festivals, for example EVIMUS (Saarbrücken); Grafenegg (Austria); the festival of the Hugo Wolf Akademie (Stuttgart); and the aDevantgarde Festival (Munich). His works are performed on international stages.

Multi-percussionist/sound artist/researcher dedicated to expand the vast potential of the performing body within contemporary music and other artistic disciplines. He was a steady member of cutting edge Dutch ensembles Slagwerk Den Haag, Amsterdam Percussion Group and Insomnio Ensemble where he is a regular guest. He has performed in all five continents collaborating with artists like Pierre Boulez, John Zorn, Steve Reich, John Luther Adams, Kajia Saariaho, Frederic Rzewski, Alvin Currant, Steven Shick, Peter Eötvös, William Winant, Matmos, James Wood, Asko-Schoenberg Ensemble, Synergy Vocals, and MDR Choir.

He received awards such as Performance Grand Prize/ Tokyo Experimental Festival, 2nd Prize/ International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition (Netherlands), 3rd Prize/ International Percussion Competition (Luxembourg), Percussive Arts Society Award of Recognition (US), and Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik/ CD Insomnio.

He holds a Doctorate from McGill University, Montreal, a Masters degree from the Royal Conservatory, The Netherlands and a Bachelors from CIEM–Mexico. He has recorded CDs and DVDs for Mode Records, Tzadik, Cantalloupe, Col legno, EMF, ENCORA, NMC, Karnatic Lab, Artek, EtCetera, and Navona Records.

Recently he was a guest lecturer and advisor at Columbia University (NY), released a CD with James Wood's Tongues of Fire with the MDR choir, and performed as soloist in Boulez's Repons (NL), Dutch premiere of Robin de Raaff's Percussion Concerto in Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam), and Centre Georges Pompidou and Centrequatre (as part of Manifest­– IRCAM).

During his studies of Politics and Psychology, Gottschalk started to organize electronic music festivals, DJing, set and light design.

After graduating as a media and event technician in 2003, he worked as a lighting and projection designer for a three-year enduring laboratory for new media art and interactive systems ‘Forum Neues Musiktheater’ at the Staatsoper Stuttgart. Within this project he supported and attended workshops for object-based programming environments, like MAX/MSP and Isadora with a focus on the programming and implementation of interactive systems for performances and installations.

From 2006 to 2009 he was the lighting, projection designer and Technical Director for the ’Zeitoper’ projects of the Staatsoper Stuttgart.

Since 2009 he is working as a video engineer, operator and Vice Technical Director on several projects for the theatre collective ‘Rimini Protokoll’ such as ‘Radio Muezzin’, ‘Bodenprobe Kasachstan’ ‘Lagos Business Angels’ and ‘Situation Rooms’.

In 2010 he graduated as a Master of Event and Media Engineering.

Furthermore, he collaborates on several projects with art collectives such as ‘Alterazioni Video’, ‘phase7’ and ‘2av’.

Since 2014 Gottschalk has been a video and projection designer, as well as being the Technical Director of ‘Michael Laub / Remote Control Productions’ with recent productions including ‘Dance Portraits – Cambodia’ 21er Haus Vienna and ‘Asutorito Endoruwaito’ HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin. 

A freelance director and dramaturge, he studied applied theater studies at the Justus Liebig University in Gießen under, among others, Heiner Goebbels; Rabih Mroué; and Laurent Chétouane, where he received his diploma in 2011 with a thesis work on the body in contemporary music. In 2012 Grammel celebrated the world premiere of his production of »Josefine« at Theater Mönchengladbach; the concept to this piece won the open competition announced by »Fonds experimentelles Musiktheater NRW«. In addition, the piece »the phantom piper of corrieyairrack« from the year 2009, which had already been performed at Kampnagel Hamburg and HAU Berlin, was invited to the Tonlagen Festival in Hellerau in 2012. He had already produced numerous projects during his studies with, among others, Ensemble Modern Frankfurt; Ensemble musikFabrik Köln; and the International Ensemble Modern Academy.

(Website)

Already as a student and having just turned 19 years old, she played the role of Mascha in Tolstoy's "The Living Corpse" at Theater Potsdam. Further stations in her career were Bautzen and Dessau, and then she was hired by Volksbühne Berlin. Between 1970 - 1980 there followed many roles on television, and she traveled across the country with her songs, guitar, and writers from the satirical magazine "Eulenspiegel." In 1982 she left the German Democratic Republic with her daughter after her husband passed away, and she moved to Munich. She had her first big role in the television series "Münchner Freiheit." She is a guest artist at many theaters, currently at Volkstheater München, where she can be seen in the role of the Mother in "Tales from the Vienna Woods." Her distinctive voice soon found a permanent place in the dubbing branch. Just to name a few, she is the German dubbing voice of Geneviève Bujold, Marianne Faithfull, and "Uhura" in "Star Trek." The broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk filmed with her "Ich bin eine Fremde im eigenen Land" ("I'm a stranger in my own country") for the series "Lebenslinien" ("Lifelines").

Hervé Guerrisi was born in 1981. He studied acting in the National Drama school of Brussels and developed a project about Italian immigration in Europe called Cincali.  He is passionate by languages and their ability to enter into someone’s identity. In 2009, he founded the international collective If Human exploring the borders between disciplines and performing languages. This experience put him in contact with many contemporary dance companies such as Les Ballets C de la B, Quan Bui Ngoc and others. He was recently in the prestigious Cour d’Honneur du Palais des Papes during the Festival d’Avignon, directed by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti and he collaborated with the Bayerische Staatsoper of Munich.

Born in 1986, she studied violin at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) under Robert Zimansky, and Baroque violin under Monika Baer, and composition under Isabelle Mundry. One of her main interests is the dialogue between old and new music. She has composed commissioned pieces for, among others, the Swiss Chamber Music Festival; Ensemble Resonanz Hamburg; Kammersolisten Zug; and Forum Alte Musik Zürich. She has received several awards for her compositions. As a Baroque violinist she performs with Ensemble Picaro, among others. She is a lecturer in violin, composition, and music theory.

(Website)

Sachiko Hara grew up in Fukuoka, Japan. She studied piano at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich. In addition to the classical repertoire she devotes herself to contemporary music and she has often been a guest performer with renowned ensembles. She performed in several theater pieces directed by Johan Simons and with music by Carl Oesterhelt at the Münchener Kammerspiele.

She received the City of Munich's "Sponsorship Award for Music" in 2009.

Dorothea Hartmann studied music, German literature and dramatics. In 2003, she started working as a dramaturge at the opera houses of Mannheim, Linz and Hannover. Since 2012, she has worked at Deutsche Oper Berlin as a dramaturge and as the artistic director of the Tischlerei, the stage for contemporary music theatre and experimental productions of the opera house. Dorothea Hartmann also writes libretti for music theatre aimed at a young audience. She has collaborated with the composers Peter Androsch, Stefan Johannes Hanke, Gordon Kampe, Mischa Tangian and Lin Wang. 2012 and 2013 she was a member of the jury for the Deutsche Theaterpreis DER FAUST, and in 2013 she was a member of the jury for the Fonds experimentelles Musiktheater North Rhine-Westphalia.

Thomas Hastreiter is recognised internationally as a percussionist. Appearances as a chamber and orchestral musician have taken him to the main concert halls of Europe, North America and Australia. He has performed at prestigious festivals including Lucerne Festival and Aix-en-provence Festival. He has worked with conductors such as Kyrill Petrenko, Christoph Eschenbach, Kent Nagano and Alan Gilbert.

Since 2010 Thomas Hastreiter is a lecturer at the Leopold-Mozart Centre University in Augsburg. He studied at the Hochschule Nürnberg-Augsburg under the tuition of Stefan Blum, Jörg Hannabach, Guido Rückel and Thomas Höfs.

Rüdiger Hauffe, born in 1983, studied acting from 2007 until March 2011 at the Hamburg School of Music and Theater (HfMT). During his studies he performed at St. Pauli Theater and later at Thalia Theater Hamburg in, among others, the production "Leonce and Lena" (directed by Dimiter Gotscheff), and at Schauspielhaus Hamburg in Roger Vontobel's "Das Käthchen von Heilbronn." His first engagement was in 2011 at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, where he, among other roles, performed the title role in "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui." He has been a member of the ensemble at Staatstheater Mainz since the season 2014/2015, where he could be seen in, among others, as Conrad in K. D. Schmidt's production of "Nathan the Wise"; in the German premiere of Lucie Depauw's "Lilli/Heiner"; and in the world premiere of "The Sirens of Titan."

Born in Bremerhaven, Germany. Computer scientist and product developer. Studied computer science and media at the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven. Works freelance in the areas of audio/video technology as well as event technology. Collaborations with, among others, Gilles Welinski, world premiere of "EXIL" during the Tanz Bremen festival; Sebastian Hirn with “Cosí fan tutte” at the Mozartfestspiele in Schwetzingen; “reenacting the reenactment”, MaximiliansForum; and “das leben ist ein schweres spiel reenacting the reenactment” (“life is a difficult game reenacting the reenactment”) in Jena.

Hannes Hesse ist Videokünstler aus Halle an der Saale und studiert Medienkunst an der Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig. Seit 2006 ist er an verschiedenen Theatern aktiv gewesen. U.a. für Mirko Borscht entwarf und entwirft er seit mehreren Jahren Videoinstallationen: z.B. für »Sweet Dreams«, »Der Tag des Opritschniks«, »Harper Regan« und »Die Welt ohne uns IV« am Centraltheater Leipzig, dem Thalia Theater Halle und dem Schauspiel Hannover. Als VJ arbeitet Hannes Hesse mit diversen Acts und Clubs aus der elektronischen Musikszene zusammen und entwickelt für sie Video- und Lichtkonzepte.

(Facebook Page)

Born in Denmark. He began to experiment already as a child with an old cassette recorder, recording and processing sounds in his environment. After he received his master's degree in electronic music composition from the Royal Academy of Music in Denmark he worked with, among others, Andrew M. McKenzie (Hafler Trio) and Derek Holzer a.k.a. Macumbista. In his works Krishve moves between the borderlines of sound art and electronic music. In addition to his own work, such as the independent labels phloq and clang, Krishve works as a composer and sound designer for performances, installations, theater, and film, and he has been a permanent member of Hotel Pro Forma since 2012, the internationally successful ensemble of visual music performances and installations.

(Website)

Miika Hyytiäinen's music has been performed in most of the festivals and other important positions in Finland and Germany. It has also been heard in all Nordic countries, France, Japan, Holland and England. The versatile use of human voice and intimacy of the sound is typical for his music that combines different kinds of art forms, such as instrumental theatre, performance and theatre. Hyytiäinen graduated from the Universität der Künste Berlin, where he studied composition and experimental music theatre with Daniel Ott. In 2014 he won with his piece ”You Are Here” the ”Opera and the Media of the Future” competition organized by Glyndebourne Opera House and the University of Sussex. The same year his (3D) opera "Aikainen" was performed in Berlin and at the Grimeborn Festival in London. His chamber opera “Figure de la Terre” was premiered in April 2013 at Sophiensæle Berlin. His experimental music theatre piece ”Pierrot Lunaire und drei Schattenträume” has been performed in two seasons in Finland with positive reviews and was also part of Tokyo Wonder Site Experimental Festival vol 8 in 2013. His opera “Omnivore” for mobile phones had its international premiere in June 2012 in collaboration with Finnish National Opera. Hyytiäinen has also numerous chamber music pieces. One of the most notable works is “Makabere Geschichten” that is at the moment repertoire of four trios in three countries. For 2016 he was chosen to “Music in the Expanded Field” workshop in Darmstadt. Since 2014 Hyytiäinen is working on Artistic PhD about collaboration of composers and singers. He works in International Biennale Platform of Munich as a composer.

While still studying Domonkos Héja founded the symphonic "Danubis-Jugendorchester" and gave numerous concerts in Hungary as well as abroad. Several CD recordings are today documents of his activities at that time and can also be heard on German radio stations (among others, BR Klassik). Domonkos Héja is still associated with the orchestra, which in the meantime is sponsored by the self-government of an old city quarter in Budapest, and he always takes part in the Budapest Spring Festival.

In 1998 he received First Prize at the 9th International Budapest Conductor Competition, a competition sponsored by Hungarian Television – an award that no Hungarian before him had ever won. In addition, already as a 29-year-old he received the renowned Liszt Award, the most important national award for musical achievements in Hungary.

As early as 2001 Domonkos Héja started working at the Hungarian State Opera, and he has been the general music director there since 2012. For what is most likely the most prominent music institution in Hungary, he rehearsed during the past season "Ariadne auf Naxos" by Richard Strauss and Leoš Janacek's "Jenůfa." In addition, Domonkos Héja was the principal conductor from 2005 to 2012 at Theater Chemnitz.

Domonkos Héja's oeuvre also includes – in addition to concertante works, contemporary music, and a broad spectrum of opera repertoire – oratorios, sacral works, and the most important symphonies, ballets, operettas, and musicals. Moreover, he has worked on thematic cycles in French, Slavic, British, Italian, and German music literature, with a focus on the music of Héja's compatriots, ranging from Liszt, Ernö, and Dohnányi to György Ligeti.

Domonkos Héja has been the general music director at Theater Augsburg since the 2015/2016 season.

Born in 1987 in Hamburg, she studied composition under Dieter Mack and Harald Muenz in Lübeck; under Tapio Nevanlinna in Helsinki; and under Franz Martin Olbrisch and Manos Tsangaris in Dresden. She has received numerous awards for her works in the areas of sound art, music theater, performance, and instrumental and electronic music. Her works were performed at, among other places, the Wittener Tagen für neue Kammermusik; Blurred Edges Festival Hamburg; and Klangwerkstatt Berlin. She has collaborated with, among others, Ensemble Garage; Ensemble Radar; Ensemble ascolta; Eva Zöllner; and Frauke Aulbert.

(Website)

Katsiaryna Ihnatsyeva-Cadek wurde in Weißrussland geboren. Das Studium am staatlichen Musikkolleg (Fakultät Chordirigieren) und an der „Weißrussischen Staatsakademie für Musik" absolvierte sie 2005 mit Auszeichnung. 2003 gründete sie den akademischen Damenchor „BelajaRusija". Unter ihrer Leitung realisierte der Chor zahlreiche Tourneen und CD-Aufnahmen im In- und Ausland.

Im Jahr 2006 wurde sie als „Beste Dirigentin" des internationalen Chorwettbewerbes für Kirchenmusik in Lapy/Polen ausgezeichnet. Im Anschluss an ihre Ausbildung in Weißrussland folgte ein Studium an der Kunstuniversität in Graz (Chor- und Orchesterdirigieren, Korrepetition). Das Masterstudium Chordirigieren (2009 bei Univ. Prof. Johannes Prinz) und das Bachelorstudium (Orchesterdirigieren 2011 bei Univ. Prof. Martin Sieghart, Korrepetition 2010 bei Prof. Dörner) schloß sie jeweils mit Auszeichnung ab.

Sie war als Korrepetitorin an der Kunstuniversität Graz beschäftigt und arbeitete als Chorassistentin an der Oper in Graz und als Korrepetitorin für den Wiener Singverein. Als Assistenz von V. Fedosejev und als Korrepetitorin war sie bei den Produktionen von „Gogol" (L. Auerbach) und „Johannes Damascenus" (S. Tanejew) tätig. Bei der Produktion 2011 von Don Giovanni (Brucknerfestival in Linz, Ried und Szombathely) arbeitete sie als Korrepetitorin und war Assistentin von Martin Sieghart.

Zahlreiche Auftritte als Dirigentin mit verschiedenen Orchestern der Grazer Musikuniversität (z. B. Einstudierung und Dirigat der Oper Viva La Mamma von G. Donizetti), Choreinstudierungen (Der Vogelhändler) und die Arbeit als Korrepetitorin am Theater an der Wien (Les Contes D'Hoffmann) runden ihre bisherigen Tätigkeiten ab. Sie wurde mit dem 1. Preis beim öffentlichen Abschlußkonzert des „Internationalen Meisterkurses für Orchesterdirigieren - Wien 2012" ausgezeichnet. 

Seit der Spielzeit 2012/13 ist sie Chordirektorin am Theater Augsburg und bereitete im Frühjahr und Sommer 2013 den Opernchor u. a. auf die äußerst anspruchsvolle Chorpartie von Intolleranza 1960 vor. In der aktuellen Spielzeit studiert sie den Opernchor für alle Produktionen ein.

Claudia Irro, born in 1985 in Munich, studied costume design at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences under Professor Reinhard von der Thannen. After working as an assistant on productions of Christoph Marthaler; Sebastian Baumgarten; and Benedikt von Peter, among others, she has been working as a freelance costume designer since 2011 at Theater Basel; Staatsschauspiel Dresden; Nationaltheater Mannheim; Münchner Volkstheater; Schauspielhaus Graz; and Theater Rampe in Stuttgart in collaboration with, among others, Frederik Tidén; Marie Bues; Simon Solberg; Jan Gehler; and Alexander Eisenach. After working on an opera production at Biwako Hall in Japan in 2012, (directed by Georges Delnon and in coproduction with Theater Basel), there followed a film and opera production at ZKM in Karlsruhe and the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele (world premiere in 2014). She also designed the costumes for music theater productions at Kaserne Basel; Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich ("Enzyklopädie"); and for the opera production "Ulysse Exp. No. 1," which will have its world premiere in Lausanne at BCV Concert Hall.

Born in Berlin, he quickly developed a love of music through mandolin and guitar lessons, and he played in various bands and worked as a deejay. After training to be a technical assistant in electronics and data technology and taking classical voice training, he worked from 2000 - 2005 as a sound technician at Bikini Studios. He has been managing his own music studio, Phinemusic Studio in Berlin, for composition, production, recording, editing, sound design, and film music since 2005. Productions he worked on include, among others, Rodakis (2008) by Olaf Nicolai, Berlinale - Forum Expanded; Starbulls: Der Film (2010); and Rembetiko Road (2014) by Marc Ottiker, Achtung Berlin Festival.

Since 2008 he has been composing for and performing in productions by Pauline Beaulieu in Paris; Berlin; and at Theaterhaus Jena in 2016.

Unusually creative programming and ever greater sonic homogeneity: more than 65 years after it was founded, in the immediate post-war period, the Münchener Kammerorchester (MKO) is a shining beacon in German orchestral life. The MKO’s programmes – inspired, exciting and often surprising – juxtapose works from the past with music from our own time.

Composers such as Iannis Xenakis, Wolfgang Rihm, Tan Dun, Chaya Czernowin and Jörg Widmann have written works for the ensemble, and since 2006 alone the MKO has commissioned pieces from Erkki-Sven Tüür, Thomas Larcher, Bernhard Lang, Nikolaus Brass, Samir Odeh-Tamimi, Klaus Lang, Mark Andre, Peter Ruzicka, Márton Illés, Miroslav Srnka, Georg Friedrich Haas, Salvatore Sciarrino and Tigran Mansurian.

The twenty-six string musicians (the core instrumentalists of the MKO) have grown into an ensemble capable of immense stylistic variability. With great agility they change between historically informed performances of Baroque and Classical works and the very particular technical demands of contemporary music. Able to draw on a permanent pool of outstanding wind and brass soloists from Europe’s finest orchestras, the MKO, in the form of a “slender” symphony orchestra, can take advantage of its special sound when it comes to setting new standards in the interpretation of some of Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann’s most important works. Renowned guest conductors and a phalanx of outstanding international soloists regularly provide new artistic impulses.

Founded by Christoph Stepp in 1950, the Münchener Kammerorchester was subsequently guided and conducted by Hans Stadlmair for almost four decades, starting in 1956. 1995 Christoph Poppen became Artistic Director and established the unmistakable dynamic profile of the MKO. From 2006 on Alexander Liebreich continued this transformation. With the 2016/17 season Clemens Schuldt will become chief conductor of the MKO.

The MKO is a modern, flexible ensemble that is not only committed to an extensive musical repertoire, but also constantly develops very diverse activities outside its subscription series. Per year the orchestra presents around sixty concerts all over the world.

The MKO’s recordings include works by Mendelssohn, Rossini, Fauré, Mozart, Haydn as well as Hosokawa, Gubaidulina, Hartmann, Yun, Silvestrov and Mansurian.

Abdulla Kenan Karaca was born in 1989 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and he grew up in Oberammergau. After his Abitur final exams he worked as an assistant director at Münchner Volkstheater in 2009, and at the Salzburg Festival on the production »Everyman« as an assistant director to Christian Stückl. In 2011 he was an assistant director to Christian Stückl on the production »Joseph and his Brothers,« based on the novel by Thomas Mann and performed at Passionstheater in Oberammergau. Also in 2011 he became the director for the first time of the youth theater club at Münchner Volkstheater. In 2012 he had his debut as a director with »Arabboy.« »The Great Gatsby« was his second production at Münchner Volkstheater. During the 2014/2015 season at Volkstheater he staged »Woyzeck« by Georg Büchner on the main stage. In 2015 Abdullah Kenan Karaca was appointed the deputy artistic director of the Passion Play 2020 in Oberammergau.

Ina Karr studied music education, musicology, and German in Freiburg, Germany. Afterwards she worked as a research associate at the University of Freiburg; as a writer for daily magazines and journals; a festival correspondent for BBC London; a dramaturge at the "Eclat" festival; and managing director of Ensemble Aventure. Starting in 2002 dramaturge at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, and starting in 2006 chief music theater dramaturge at Oldenburgische Staatstheater, where she also was named director of opera in 2009. Since 2014 Ina Karr has been chief dramaturge for music theater at the Staatstheater Mainz. She is a lecturer at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK). She is also especially interested in the further development of contemporary music theater for children. 

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, K​atelyn King​is a percussionist without boundaries, finding non­traditional and unexplored ways to connect with audiences. When Katelyn is not attempting to learn German, she is working on her Master in Composition and Theory in Théâtre Musical at the Hochschule der Künste Bern in Switzerland. In addition to working with her colleagues and professors at the HKB, Katelyn is involved in multiple projects: speak/strike–a duo repertoire initiative project bringing together American composers to create new music for speaking and percussion; Dressage Percussion–an all­women theatrical percussion trio; an experimental duo with Actor Nico Delpy; and a production of Heinrich von Kleist’s E​rdbeben in Chili a​t the Stadttheater in Bern.

Aron Kitzig was born in 1979 in Berlin; he is a freelance set designer, filmmaker, and media artist. He has produced music videos for, among others, Ensemble Adapter; Ensemble Moderne; Nordlichter, the biennale of Nordic music; and the label Dollkraut.
He and the pianist Marc Tritschler have been managing the artists' label Testklang in Berlin since 2012, which specializes in classical and contemporary music, as well as its connection to film, poetry, and design. Testklang was founded in 2012 and is organized as a cooperative network. Since 2013 Aron Kitzig has been working in the areas of contemporary and classical opera. Notable examples are "Hypermusic" (Hector Parrà, Ensemble Zafran); "Parsifal" (Hamburgersymphoniker); cello suites by Bach (Arne Christian Pelz, cellist); and "Turandot" (by Marco Arturo Marelli, Bregenzer Seefestspiele and Wiener Staatsoper).

The foundation of the MÜNCHNER KNABENCHOR by the conductor Ralf Ludewig demonstrates how he rose to the challenge of realizing a long term dream he and many friends of music and culture in Munich have in common: a top level boys’ choir whose very name epitomizes the rich variety of culture the Bavarian state capital continues to offer.In the past citizens and representatives of the City of Munich frequently approached the then Music Director of the Tölzer Knabenchor and announced their wish to see a new name in the music world, one that would signal to all just how success, quality and fame can be attributed to a boys‘ choir comprising Munich’s own children – the City of Munich has, after all, a child in its famous coat of arms.Inspired by these requests Ralf Ludewig decided to establish a choir of his own. Many boys were inspired by this idea of a new musical adventure and followed their long time choir leader, supporting him in forming a new choir that would be associated with music-making of the highest level.Within a very short time, the new choir had been engaged for several productions in renowned theaters, including performances in the famous Magic Flute; or as we know it in Europe Die Zauberflöte.As the Music Director of the Tölzer Knabenchor for over five years, Ralf Ludewig shouldered the musical responsibility for the renowned choir which, under his leadership from 2009 to 2014, established an impressive track record.

Philipp Kolb, Trompete, hat natürlich sein Instrument gelernt. Doch dies reichte ihm wohl nicht. Sein Jurastudium verfolgte er intensiv bis zum Examen, „aber nur als Hobby, ich wollte wissen, wie das juristische und behördliche Denken funktioniert“. In Kombination mit verschiedensten Interessen von Autorestaurierung bis Zirkularatmung entstand ein Wissensstatus, welcher ihn das Trompetespielen allein als zu einseitig erschienen lies. „Wenn ich nur Trompete spielen würde, hätte ich das Gefühl, dass mir Input fehlt“. So war er auch tätig als Produktionsleiter verschiedenster Kunstprojekte im öffentlichen Raum, Netzwerkbetreuer einer Rechtsanwaltskanzlei, Motorradrestaurateur, Betriebsratsvorsitzender und Krankenpflegehelfer.

Sein musikalischer Weg führte über vielerlei Orchester- und Theaterengagements letztendlich zur zeitgenössischen Musik, nicht nur als Trompeter und Tubist, sondern auch als Komponist, Darsteller und Organisator.

Produktionen wie "UnterWasser - ein Freiheitsentzug", „Ensemble Finale – Live-Improvisationen zu Fussballspielen“ und „Das Pater Noster Konzert I + II“ tragen genauso seine Urheberschaft wie die szenischen Produktionen „Die Drachenzähler – eine diskursive Prozession“ oder „Isar-quer“. Und letztendlich auch die Gründung von „piano possibile“ mit Klaus Schedl im Jahre 1993. Als dessen Intendant vesucht er, die kreativen Kräfte des Ensembles zu bündeln und zu stärken.

The cellist Lana Kostic was born in 1988 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. After graduating early from secondary school with her music final exams in 2006, she studied at the University of the Arts Bremen in Professor Alexander Baillie's class. In 2008/2009 she had private instruction from Professor David Grigorian in Munich. In 2014 she received her diploma with honors in Johannes Krebs' class at the University of the Arts Bremen. Since 2014 she has been studying at the Bern University of the Arts in Professor Conradin Brotbek's class and in the musical theater department in the master's degree program of composition and theory.

She has won many international and national competitions, including the special award in the International String Competition Rudolf Matz.

From 2010 to 2014 she was a member of Cellowerk in Bremen, where she taught and performed concerts regularly. She also was the director of the master course at Musiktage Spiekeroog.

In 2014/2015 she received a grant from the Gesellschaft zu Ober-Gerwern, and in 2015 she received grants from the Foundation Iréne Delerez and the Rita Zimmerman Music Foundation. She will perform with Ensemble Vertigo and the composer H. Lachenmann on the occasion of his 80th birthday during the 2016/2017 season.

In the area of pop music she will go on tour in Germany with the group Adoro.

The press has described her playing as markedly competent and beautiful in tone (Göttinger Tageblatt, Rotenburger Rundschau, etc.).

In addition to performances of classical and contemporary music she devotes herself to researching and performing traditional music from the Balkans, including, among other activities, as a member of BalkanCello and as a duo with the accordion player Gyorgi Spasov.

She is especially interested in the interdisciplinary conjunction of different art forms, such as the interplay of instruments, language, and movement. In this connection, the close collaboration with other artists who have different focuses is of great importance to her, and as a result she has participated in various interdisciplinary projects such as, for example:

The film "Dvorak who?" directed by J. Harlan (executive producer: S. Kubrick)
As a theater musician in the project "Junges Theater Sarajevo" at Theater am Goetheplatz in Bremen
Movement and dance projects, such as eurhythmy and concept improvisation
Electronic music projects in collaboration with genereticartensemble, and also as a member of the Stein&Staub quartet

In addition, she has worked frequently as a studio musician in the areas of contemporary, classical, pop, and world music in Bern; Sarajevo; Osnabrück; and Bremen.

She took part in the junior studies program for gifted students at the Dresden University of Music, and studied dramaturgy at the Theaterakademie August Everding under Professor Klaus Zehelein; she received a grant from the German National Academic Foundation and a scholarship from DAAD to study at Université Paris 8.

She has been working as a freelance dramaturge for music theater as of the season 2012/13, and in 2014 she was a consultant in the opera department at Bayer Kultur. She has worked as a music journalist for several CD labels and has been a freelance author since 2014 for music theater and early music at the radio broadcaster WDR 3.

She is a freelance dramaturge in the area of music theater with a focus on ›project development‹ and she has worked in this capacity at, among other institutions, Prinzregententheater and the Gasteig Cultural Center in Munich; Radialsystem Berlin; Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Hellerau; the Aix-en-Provence festival; De Nationale Opera Amsterdam; Aldeburgh Music; Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian; LOD muziektheater Ghent; Polish National Opera Teatr Wielki (performances, among others, at La Monnaie/De Munt, Philharmonie de Paris); Staatstheater Darmstadt; Nederlandse Reisopera; Kölner Philharmonie; and the International Festival of Contemporary Music of the Biennale di Venezia. She received a grant from Akademie »Musiktheater heute«, the academy of the Deutsche Bank Foundation.

Sylvana Krappatsch was born in Quedlinburg, Germany, and she grew up in Brandenburg; as a successful theater actress she is at home on stages in Germany and abroad.

She was a member of the ensembles at Schauspielhaus Wien (theater manager: Hans Gratzer); at Schauspielhaus Zürich (theater manager:Christoph Marthaler); and from 2005 - 2015 she was a formative artist at the Münchner Kammerspiele under the theater manager Frank Baumbauer, and more recently under Johan Simons.

She has collaborated with the director Simons over a period of many years, and their work together has proved to be both significant and fruitful. The results were unforgettable evenings of theater, such as "Atomised," based on the book by Houellebecq, and "Job," based on the novel by Joseph Roth.

Sylvana Krappatsch has been a freelance actress since the autumn of 2015.

She currently can be seen onstage in the play "Exiles" by James Joyce (directed by Luk Perseval) at the Thalia Theater Hamburg.

With the work "Mnemo/scene: Echos" for the Munich Biennale Sylvana Krappatsch is establishing a connection to her earlier work in a musical context, which had already produced a striking expression in her collaboration with the group "Ensemble für Städtebewohner."

In addition to her work in theater, Sylvana Krappatsch can also be seen playing roles in films and on television.

Judith Krins, born in 1986 in Vienna, studied at the Mozarteum Salzburg under Lukas Hagen and Benjamin Schmid, as well as under Friedemann Eichhorn at the University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar.

Already at a very early stage in her career she had received various awards and grants, including First Prize in the German competition "Jugend musiziert," and she was a member of the German Youth Orchestra as well as a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra.

Further engagements took her to MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig; Stuttgarter Kammerorchester; and Bayerische Staatsoper, where she recently graduated from the orchestra academy.

Since 2013 she has been working freelance in Munich, where she works with different ensembles – such as the Münchner Kammerorchester and Ensemble Amphion.

Born in 1972 in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, she trained as a stone sculptor and studied at the Akademie der bildenden Künste München under James Reineking and Stephan Huber. In 2007 she received a new media project grant from the City of Munich. In 2006 she was awarded the Bavarian Culture Prize from EON Bayern AG, and in 2007 the sponsorship award from the City of Konstanz. She has been an art assistant at the Technical University of Munich since 2010 (architecture faculty, chair of visual arts).

(Website)

For Alexander Liebreich, conducting is a state of mind. Openness and curiosity are integral elements of his work, both of which are evident equally through his interpretations and programming. Historical performance practice and contemporary music – free of dogmatic and ideological pressure – also play an important role. Liebreich works without reservations: he sets his trademarks through concise concert programmes and innovative concert formats.Alexander Liebreich has proven himself to be one of the most avid conductors of his generation. Having only assumed the position of Principal Conductor of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice in 2012, he has already received widespread recognition in Poland for reinventing the sound and programming of this tradition-steeped orchestra. Liebreich has also been Chief Conductor of the Munich Chamber Orchestra since 2006: under his leadership, the orchestra has made tremendous strides through the development of new concert formats. They have had a lasting effect on, and have enhanced, the city and music life of Munich.In the same way, South Korea's Tongyeong International Music Festival (TIMF) – which Liebreich led from 2011 to 2014 – has also benefited greatly from this spirit of renewal. At the festival, he introduced the groundbreaking "East-West Residency Programme" which showcased such prominent contemporary composers as Salvatore Sciarrino, Heiner Goebbels, Beat Furrer and Unsuk Chin. At the same time, Liebreich's background, firmly rooted in the classical repertoire of Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn, has its long-lasting consequences: he delves into the romantic and modern repertoire from a classical perspective.Liebreich continually unearths new perspectives through his sleek, distinct and deft approach. He is equally aware of the historical, political and social dimensions of music: it is one's responsibility towards the future to portray the present. For Liebreich, music is a metaphor for the question of "why," the brainchild of new ideas. This way of thinking can best be accredited to Michael Gielen: during his studies with Gielen, Liebreich came to understand concise dramaturgy, as well as the importance of critical and analytical thinking.Alexander Liebreich was also heavily influenced by Claudio Abbado and Nikolaus Hanoncourt. Liebreich approaches conducting, as Abbado did, through the notion of chamber music: the conductor is part of a group in pursuit of a common goal. Here, as in the work of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the dialogic aspect of chamber music comes to the fore; both impulses and effects take on a greater meaning. In using this element to bring together vocal and instrumental music, Liebreich has also made his mark in the world of opera, most notably in his collaboration with the director Hans Neuenfels at the Oper Frankfurt.Vocal music has always played a prominent role in Alexander Liebreich's career. Born in Regensburg, Liebreich was steeped in the choir tradition of his hometown at an early age. In addition to conducting, he studied voice with the goal of being able to focus on both Romance philology and music history. His reflections and questioning of language and music have greatly impacted his approach to instrumental music, which was already evident during his time with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest in Hilversum. Liebreich has since gone on to conduct many renowned orchestras: he recently made his debut at such venues as the Musikverein in Vienna, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Cité de la Musique in Paris – always with programmes encouraging a different way of listening.Alexander Liebreich has also created a lasting legacy as Guest Professor in North Korea, where he conducted the first performance of Brucker's Eighth Symphony with young musicians. This event was impressively documented by the film "Pyongyang Crescendo," released in 2005.In October 2014, Alexander Liebreich – joined by the Bavarian Radio Choir, pianist Krystian Zimerman and the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra – inaugurated the new Philharmonic Hall in Katowice, whose acoustics were designed by the renowned acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota. In May 2015 it hosted the festival “Kultura Natura” under the artistic guidance of Alexander Liebreich for the first time with great success. Kultura Natura will continue and in spring 2016 Liebreich will again invite international artists to Katowice.From 2014 to 2016, the RIAS Kammerchor and Munich Chamber Orchestra join Alexander Liebreich in commissioning one piece per year, to be premiered in a programme alongside an established work. After Salvatore Sciarrino and Pascal Dusapin in 2014 and 2015; a piece written by Georg Friedrich Haas – to be programmed with Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s “Lobgesang” – will follow.In addition to engagements in Poland and with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, this season sees Alexander Liebreich conducting such renowned ensembles the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, the Osaka Philharmonic, the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.

Cyrill Lim is a composer and sound artist. His examination of the aspects of perception and reflection of the used media leads mainly to performative and installative works that tries to experimentally gauge the physical qualities of space and material to offer a tangible experience on a musical level.

Gerd Lohmeyer was born in 1945 in Würzburg, Germany, and he grew up in Nabburg, Germany. He graduated with a degree in performing arts from the Berlin University of the Arts. Audiences are familiar with him from his work on numerous theater stages (Kammerspiele München; Münchner Volkstheater; Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz; Staatsoper Stuttgart; and since 2001 primarily at Metropoltheater in Munich), as well as in film and television productions (among others, "Rosenheim Cops"; "Cafe Meineid"; "Das große Hobeditzn"; "Der Bulle von Tölz"; "Dahoam is dahoam"). In 2002 he received the Bavarian Theater Award for his performance in "Lucie Cabrol" (Metropol Theater, Munich). He also directed, among other productions, "Nervensäge" (Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, 2009); "Der Tiefseetaucher im Felslabyrinth" (Luisenburg-Festspiele, 2008); and "Die wundersame Überquerung der Würm" (Kammerspiele, Munich, 2001). He has also received these awards: Star of the Year for "Er nicht als Er" (2000) from the daily newspaper Abendzeitung, and the Rose of the Year for the piece "Weltuntergang" (1996) and for "Valentin im Sturm" (2013) from the daily newspaper tz. Since 1992 Gerd Lohmeyer has also been working as a lecturer in character development (at, among other institutions, the Bayerische Theaterakademie).

Kai Luczak worked initially for six years as the lighting operations manager at Staatstheater Stuttgart before he became lighting designer at the Festival Rossini in Wildbad from 1998 – 2012, where he designed the lighting for productions by Anke Rauthmann; Antonio Petris; and Jochen Schönleber. From 2007 - 2009 he was responsible for the lighting design in the productions of Udo Schürmer and Heinz Trixner at the Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen.

In 2007 Kai Luczak became the lighting operations manager at Schauspielhaus Leipzig, where he worked with Wolfgang Engel; Volker Lösch; Jorinde Dröse; Konstanze Lauterbach; and Jürgen Kruse. Between 2009 and 2012 Kai Luczak was a member of the executive team for lighting design at Schaubühne Berlin am Lehniner Platz, where he worked on productions together with Volker Lösch; Thomas Ostermeier; Patrick Wengenroth; and Friederike Heller. Since 2012 he has been head of the lighting operations department at Theater Augsburg. Here he worked with, among others, the directors Ludger Engels; Lorenzo Fioroni; Patrick Kinmonth; Aron Stiehl; and Peter Konwitschny.

During the 2015/2016 season he is responsible for the lighting design of the opera "The Abduction from the Seraglio" at Landestheater Bregenz, and for the lighting design of the production "Und der Himmel so weit – Ein Ballettabend für Franz Schubert" ("And Heaven's So Vast – an evening of ballet for Franz Schubert" at Oper Graz.

Dominik Luderschmid was born 1986 in Augsburg and began playing the double bass at the age of 13. Before graduating at High school he played in the Swabian, Bavarian and National Youth Orchestra of Germany as well as in the Bavarian Youth Jazz Orchestra, was national prize winner at „Jugend musiziert“ and young student at the „Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg/Augsburg“. Afterwards he studied classical bass with Prof. Dorin Marc and jazz bass with Rudolf Engel at the „Musikhochschule Nürnberg“, was member of the „Junge Deutsche Philharmonie“ and the academy of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and substituted in several orchestras. After his graduation from classical studies he moved to Amsterdam in order to complete his jazz studies there at the Amsterdam Conservatory. Thereafter he came back to Munich, graduated classical master studies with Prof. Heinrich Braun at the „Musikhochschule München“ and became a member of the „Münchener Kammerorchester“.

Ralf Ludewig is responsible as Artistic Director of the MÜNCHNER KNABENCHOR. He was Artistic Director and Managing Director of the Tölzer Knabenchor for many years before founding his own choir in September 2014.

1974-1981 Vocal coach with the Tölzer Knabenchor
1979-1981 Performances as treble soloist under Herbert v. Karajan, Claudio Abbado and Nikolaus Harnoncourt et al. in many renowned opera and concert halls
1989-1994 Musical studies in Osnabrück and Amsterdam, including voice, conductiong and music pedagogy, Development of the Bach Ensemble for Early Music in Holland, Bass soloist for oratorios and song recitals, Winner of various song contests
1994-1997 Training as a certified speech therapist, focus on functional and neurological voice malfunctions, research in the voice as an instrument
1997-2002 Owner of two speech therapy practices
1996-2002 Vocal coach and choirmaster with several music schools in the North of Germany, Choirmaster with various youth and adult choirs
2002-2009 Vocal coach and choirmaster with the Tölzer Knabenchor
2009-2014 Artistic Director and Managing Director of the Tölzer Knabenchor
2013 Winner of the French Diapason d’Or for Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem co-conducted with Mariss Jansons

Dietmar Lupfer conceives and curates art projects in public spaces and designs media art spaces. Works by him are the EU project »crash test dummy« or »urban mutations« - multimedia social sculptures which connect architecture, performing arts and media art together. The concept of its mobile studios »cocobello« was presented at the 9th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. Together with Ulf Langheinrich he designed a »hemispehre« for the exhibition »From Spark to Pixel« at Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau.

Almut Lustig studied classical percussion at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.

It was here that she established her foundation for her diversified music activities. She gained experience, partially already during her studies, in different musical areas such as orchestral music (the orchestras Hessischer Rundfunk; NDR Hannover; and DSO Berlin); contemporary music (with, among others, Karlheinz Stockhausen); theater music (Staatstheater Hannover; Schaubühne Berlin; Berliner Ensemble; Hebbeltheater Berlin); and experimental music ("a rose is" ensemble).

There followed various awards as well as concert performances in Germany and abroad.

Since 2005 Almut Lustig has been active as a musician and a composer at international theater and dance festivals across the globe, in particular in collaboration with the Argentine choreographer Constanza Macras and her ensemble "dorkypark." As a member of numerous bands her musical activities also include jazz and pop music.

Since 2003 she has been a lecturer in classical percussion and rhythmic aural training at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.

Almut Lustig lives in Berlin.

Margaux Marielle-Tréhouart was born in 1991 in Paris. After completing her dance training (ballet and modern dance) at Conservatoire de Grenoble and receiving her diploma in 2009, where she studied piano for six years at the same time, she studied dance at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany. She received her bachelor's degree in dance interpretation in 2013. Margaux Marielle-Trehouart is also an actress. She studied acting for one year at the conservatory in Grenoble and was cast for several speaking roles, either in cooperation with the theater department at Folkwang University of the Arts, or by professional companies and directors, including, among others, Compagnie Choses dites in France; Mizgin Bilmen; and Pierre Audi. She was also active in dance and acting collaborations, for instance with the director Saar Magal, and she could be seen onstage in their recent production at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.

Over the course of the last few years she has participated in numerous dance and theater projects, and she has also performed her own choreographed pieces (solo) at, among others, the Casa Grillo Theater Essen; Festival Off d'Avignon; Ruhrtriennale; on various stages and at various festivals in Grenoble; Tanzlabor in Bochum; Festival Theater der Welt Mülheim; FFT Düsseldorf; and ITS Festival Amsterdam.

Since September 2013 she has been a dancer with the company Sasha Waltz and Guests.

Born in London, England in 1989, soprano Elizabeth Marshall began a Masters in Opera Singing at the Musikhochschule Munich and the Theaterakademie August Everding in October 2015. She is a music graduate of the University of York and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. She sang Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) with Moon-Little Theatre and with the London Repertoire Orchestra conducted by Peter Davies. She sang Gilda (Rigoletto) for Brent Opera and covered the High Priestess (Aida) for Opéra de Baugé under Philip Hesketh. Elizabeth sang duets and arias from Rigoletto with London Repertoire Orchestra conducted by Peter Robinson.

Elizabeth's Oratorio repertoire includes Poulenc's Gloria, performed at the Cadogan Hall and conducted by Manvinder Rattan. She recreated the role of Echo in the UK premiere and tour of Anja Djordjevic's award-winning chamber opera, Narcissus & Echo, directed by Chris Hill and performed at the Kings Head Theatre London and the Lowry Studio Manchester. The Evening Standard's Keiron Quirke described Elizabeth's performance as "entrancing".

Elizabeth sang in masterclasses with Monserrat Caballé, and in workshops conducted by Kenneth Montgomery, Rolland Seiffarth, Jeremy Silver, and most recently with the directors Eva-Maria Höckmayr (Vitellia, Clemenza di Tito) and Balázs Kovalik (Fiordiligi, Così Fan Tutte). She workshopped opera scenes directed by Daniel Dooner (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Sébastien Dutrieux (Female Chorus, Rape of Lucretia and Ellen Orford, Peter Grimes).

In Spring 2016 Elizabeth performs French Romantic repertoire with Oresta Cybriwsky in the Gartensaal of the Prinzregententheater as part of the series, "Suchers Leidenschaften" with compere Dr. Berndt C. Sucher. She also travels to the Polish National Opera in Warsaw for repertoire coachings, where she is supported by the European Network of Opera Academies and Theaterakademie August Everding.

Vincent Mesnaritsch, born in 1982 in Graz, Austria, studied scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and received his diploma in 2009. He was an assistant to, among others, Martin Zehetgruber; Annette Murschetz; and Bernhard Kleber.

In 2006 he produced together with Falko Herold »alles mozart!« (»everything's mozart!«), a mobile karaoke station where Mozart arias sung by passers-by were recorded and then posted online. This award-winning piece from a City of Vienna's competition was produced on the occasion of Mozart's 250^th birthday.

Vincent Mesnaritsch has worked as a set designer with, among others, Rudolf Frey; Michael Höppner; Esther Muschol; Michael Schachermaier; Christoph Batscheider; and Thomas Birkmeir at different venues at Burgtheater in Vienna; Stadttheater Klagenfurt; Theater Ulm; Altes Schauspielhaus Stuttgart; Schauspielhaus Wien; and Schauspielhaus Salzburg.

Vincent Mesnaritsch is a freelance set designer and painter, and he lives in Vienna.

Susanne Meyer, born 1959, lives in Hamburg and worked as a business manager. When she was 48 she had the first contact with theatre and decided to study acting. Since then she has played in several off-productions and at local theatres, among others Theater Bremen. There she occurred in Christiane Pohle`s “Pomp and Circumstances” and particularly worked with director Mirko Borscht: She played in his “Young players”-production “Larger than Life”, in Borscht`s first performance of Elfriede Jelinek's play “Tod-krank.Doc” and in his staging of Jelinek's “Die Schutzbefohlenen”. Susanne Meyer can actually be seen in the second repertory season of “Die Schutzbefohlenen”.

Catherine Milliken completed her music degree in Australia, majoring in performance (piano and oboe). She then continued her oboe studies in Europe under Heinz Holliger and Maurice Bourgue. As a founding member of the renowned group for contemporary music, Ensemble Modern Germany until 2006, she worked with leading composers and conductors of this century including Heiner Goebbels, Peter Eötvös, Elena Kats, Frank Zappa, György Ligeti and Karlheinz Stockhausen (who produced her performance of »Spiral« on CD -Stockhausen Verlag 45).

Her compositional career began in 1990. She has since then, composed for theatre, opera, radio, film and created installations and has been commissioned by the South Bank Centre London , the Berliner Saatsoper, Staatstheatre in Darmstadt, the ZKM (Centre for New Media) Karlsruhe, the CCMIX(enakis) Centre in Paris, as well as Concerto Köln, Ensemble Resonanz, Iceland Symphony Orchestra and other international contemporary music festivals such as Tectonics Festival.

In 1994 she formed the HCD-Productions with composer colleagues Dietmar Wiesner and Hermann Kretzschmar. Together they conceived installations, performances, produced CD’s and composed radio plays for which they received such prizes as the »Prix Italia«.

She has also received the Prix Marulic, and in 2015 the prestigious Prix Italia for a second time together with Dietmar Wiesner for the radio play »Bunyah«. As well, the collaborative opera »Comfort Ye« received  the european YAMA award last year for »Best opera for young audiences«. Her recent orchestral work »Earth Plays« for the Musica Viva series of the Bayrischer Rundfunk Orchestra and mezzo Soprano premiered in December 2015, receiving critical acclaim.

She still regularly performs and improvises with voice, oboe and electronics in various chamber- formations including with peformers such as Angie Milliken, Kate Strong and David Moss, as well as with members of Ensemble Modern and Ensemble Extrakte. Her next upcoming appearance will be in New York at the armory in Louise Andriessens' opera »De Materie«.

She was director of the Education Program of the Berliner Philharmoniker from 2005-2012 and is internationally recognised as a leading creative director and composer. Most recent creative projects have led her to artistic collaborations in South Africa, Japan and Israel.  Positions held now include being part of creative team for the Munich Biennale for Music Theatre 2016. She lives in Berlin as a free lance composer, performer and creative director and is presently doing a doctorate on composition and collaboration.

(Website)

Born in 1979 in Mexico City, he lives in the Netherlands and works as a freelance composer, sonologist, and sound artist at the interface of traditional instruments, found objects, performance techniques, and technology. Essential for his work is the development of alternative forms of creating sounds for musical compositions. He studied initially at the Center of Research and Musical Studies (CIEM) in Mexico City, and then he studied composition at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag, as well as sonology at the Institute of Sonology. He received his doctorate from the Centre of Contemporary Music Practice, Brunel University in London. He was commissioned to write compositions for Arditti Quartet; L'Ensemble Intercontemporain; IKTUS Percussion Quartet; and for many other formations. 

(Website)

Born in 1982 in Hamburg, she studied composition under and received her degree from Younghi Paagh-Paan and Günther Steinke at the University of the Arts Bremen (HfK), and she also studied under Krzysztof Meyer; Rebecca Saunders; and Johannes Schöllhorn at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln (HfMT). During her studies she founded Ensemble Garage, which in the meantime consists of ten members from seven nations. There followed scholarships from Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and the Internationale Ensemble Modern Akademie. She has been teaching composition since 2013 at the University of Siegen, and she currently teaches composition as a guest lecturer at HfMT Köln. At present she is continuing her work as freelance composer and artistic director of Ensemble Garage as a grant holder at Villa Concordia in Bamberg, Germany. In 2014 Brigitta Muntendorf received the sponsorship award of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. Commissions and performances have taken her to, among other festivals, Acht Brücken in Cologne; ECLAT Festival; ensemble:europa (television broadcaster WDR); the Wittener Tagen für Neue Kammermusik; Sound Festival Copenhagen; and Ultraschall Berlin. In addition to her close collaboration with Ensemble Garage she composes for, among others, Ensemble Modern; Ensemble Mosaik; Asko/Schönberg Ensemble; CALEFAX; Klangforum Wien; and Musikfabrik.

(Website)

Elik was born and grew up in the village of Shave-Zion in Northern Israel. After his military service Elik studied dance at the “Sadana Performing Arts School”, Kibbutz Gaaton, and the “Talma Yalin Art School“ in Tel Aviv. After completing his studies he worked with several choreographers, such as Susanne Linke, Josef Tmim and Rami Levi in Israel. He also worked in different dance companies, such as DeDe Dance, Moza and Vertigo Dance Company

In 2005 he moved to Germany to work as a freelance dancer in Berlin. He collaborated with several choreographers, including:

Martin Stiefermann / Staatstheater Oldenburg
Susanne Linke
Mirela Waingarten / Komische Oper
Nir De Volff / Total Brutal
Santiago Blaum - Die Geschichte vom Soldaten Elik

Since 2009 he has been creating and performing with the company Constanza Macras / DorkyPark as well as working as a rehearsal manager in several of the company productions. In 2013 he appeared as a guest in Sasha Waltz & Guests.

The Belgian bass-baritone Bavo Orroi studied voice and opera and music theater at the Theaterakademie August Everding and at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München under Professor Andreas Schmidt. He gained his first stage experiences as, among other roles, Zuniga in "Carmen" at Prinzregententheater in Munich under the musical direction of Karsten Januschke; as Cold Genius in "King Arthur" with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester under the musical direction of Paul Goodwin; as Guglielmo in "Così fan tutte" with La Petite Bande Academy under the musical direction of Sigiswald Kuijken; and in productions of the International Belcanto Academy in Amsterdam. Before he started to study voice in Munich he studied euphonium and voice at the Lemmens Institute in Belgium.

Katharina Ortmann is a music dramaturge and works in the areas of concerts and music theater, with a focus on contemporary repertoire and project development; she has worked at, among other institutions, Oldenburgisches Staatstheater and Oper Hannover, where she was the acting director of Junge Oper for the season 2012/2013. She has worked together with, among others, Robyn Schulkowsky; Leo Dick; and David Fennessy. In 2015 she produced with the visual artist and set designer Ivan Bazak and the composer Gordon Kampe the music theater work "Plätze. Dächer. Wege. Leute" ("Places. Roofs. Paths. People") at Theater Bielefeld.

Meriel Price is a musician, performer and visual artist who creates works of music theatre. She performs with ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic, MDR Symphony Orchestra, Stargaze and Redux. She works closely with contemporary composers and has had many works written for her.

Her music theatre works have been performed in festivals such as 150% Made in Hamburg Theaterfest, Crescendo Festival, Berlin, KlangKunstBühne and Labor Sonar. She regularly performs in music theatre a.o. in the Berliner Ensemble, Munich Biennale, Radial System, Berlin and Theater Basel.

She founded the music theatre duo »Aside« (www.asidefromthe.com) who explore the uncomfortable and unintended facets of musical performance, challenging the expectations of the audience. With the ensemble »DieOrdnungDerDinge« (www.dieordnungderdinge.com) she creates staged concert programmes that explore the space between concert and theater/performance in a visual, playful manner.

As a visual artist she specialises in projects that combine visual art and music such as »Wer ist der Mächtigste auf Erden?« (Lucerne Festival, book published by NordSüd). She has also produced installations for festivals such as the Martinu Festtage, Basel, Tempelhof Theater Festival and the  Blind Spot Film and Music Festival, Berlin as well as puppet design for the Marionettentheater Basel.

Meriel Price studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and the University of the Arts, Berlin. Prior to this she studied visual art at Berkshire College of Art and Design.

(Website)

Dennis Pörtner was born in 1985 in Herford, Germany. From 2008 to 2012 he studied acting at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater (HfMT). During his studies he was in various productions at, among others, Thalia Theater  in “Ödipus/Tarann,” directed by Dimiter Gotscheff, and “Romeo and Juliet,” directed by Alexander Simon; and at Theater Osnabrück as part of the Spieltriebe 4 festival in 2011 (“Hundegrab,” directed by Felix Meyer-Christian, and “Blogosphere Iraq," directed by Liz Rech). For his performance of Mercutio in “Romeo and Julet” he received Studio Hamburg's sponsorship award in 2011. Since 2009 Dennis Pörtner has been continuously working with the Costa Compagnie, and he performed, among other roles, Danny in “Motortown” (Zeisehallen in Hamburg, 2009); the title role in “Kohlhaas. Frei nach Kleist” (Kampnagel in Hamburg, which was invited to the festival Körber Studio Junge Regie in 2012); and in “Fukushima, my love” (Fleetstreet Hamburg, 2013). During the 2012/2013 season he was a member of the ensemble at Theater Bonn. Since the season 2013/2014 Dennis Pörtner has been a permanent member of the ensemble at Theater Osnabrück, where he could be seen, among others, in the role Nervous Colleague in “Die Kunden werden unruhig”; in the title role of “Clavigo”; and in the role Benjamin in “Still Storm.” During the 2014/2015 season he played, among other roles, Banquo in “Macbeth”; Yang Sun in “The Good Person of Szechwan”; and Uncle Bob in “In the Republic of Happiness.”

During the current season 2015/2016 he can be seen in “27 Monate” in the role of Marc.

Rosalba Quindici is an Italian Composer and Pianist. In 1998 she graduated in piano at the Conservatory “Domenico Cimarosa” in Avellino (Italy). At the same time, she studied philosophy at the University of Naples Federico II, where in 2000 she obtained her Bachelor’s degree and in 2004 a PhD with a thesis about Husserl and the phenomenology of musical listening. In 2003 she received a scholarship at the Istituto Croce in Naples and in 2004 at the Summer School of Music and Philosophy in Maratea. In 2002 she began studying composition, graduating in 2010 at the Conservatory “Domenico Cimarosa” in Avellino. She then took advanced courses with Alessandro Solbiati, Azio Corghi, Stefano Gervasoni, Salvatore Sciarrino. In 2014 she then attended the International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt.  Currently she is further perfecting in composition with Xavier Dayer at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, where she is finishing the last year of a Master’s degree in Theory and Composition.

Her compositions have been performed at musical and cultural events and institutions, including the Settimana della Cultura italiana of the Istituto di Cultura Italiana in Hamburg, the Associazione Alessandro Scarlatti in Naples, the Festival Pianistico Internazionale in Cassano Valcuvia, the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici in Naples, Musikfestival in Bern, Festival 5 giornate in Milan, the Firenze suona contemporanea Festival in Florence and the Accademia di Belle Arti of Naples.

Grew up in Hungary and Switzerland. She studied stage and film design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. During and after her studies she worked in numerous productions as assistant for stage design to Anna Viebrock, at Theater Basel, the Wiener Festwochen and the Volksbühne Berlin.

After graduating, she worked for three years as stage designer in Osnabrück, Heidelberg, at Garage X in Vienna and at Kaserne Basel. Since summer semester 2014, she studies directing for theater and opera at the Theatre Academy August Everding in Munich under Prof. Sebastian Baumgarten. Until now she realized two productions at the Theatre Academy: Decalogue VI based on the film by Kristof Kieslowski and War and war based on the novel by hungarian author László Krasznahorkai. 

Currently based in Munich, Germany, Canadian-Greek soprano Andromahi Raptis is pursuing a Masters in Opera at the August Everding Theater Academy, where she is studying with Ingrid Kaiserfeld. Andromahi recently completed a Masters in Voice at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts and holds an Honours Bachelor of Music in Voice from the University of Toronto, Canada, where she studied with Lorna MacDonald. She was a member of the Opera Studio of L'Opéra National de Lyon, where she sang the role of Bubikopf in "Der Kaiser von Atlantis" by Viktor Ullmann. She gave the world premiere of Konstantia Gourd's "Eros" with the Bavarian State Orchestra in 2015 and sang the Soprano in "Kopernikus" by Claude Vivier (Munich Biennale in 2014). The young soprano's other main operatic roles to date include Ilia (Idomeneo), Musetta in (La Bohème), Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance), the Soprano (Kopernikus), as well as Clorinde in "Dr. Faust jun." (Gärtnerplatztheater). For the 2015 Kurt Weill Festival, she performed Bessie in "Mahagonny Songspiel" and the Soprano Solo in "Royal Palace". Last season she sang Pamina and Papagena in a children's production of "Papageno und die kleine Zauberflöte" with Concierto München.

The horn player Fabian Reinhard was born in Würzburg and is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik München under Professor Johannes Hinterholzer. While still a pupil at the special secondary school Schloss Belvedere in Weimar he had repeatedly been very successful during the German "Jugend musiziert" competition, winning several awards, and he was a finalist at the international horn competition in Sanicandro, Italy. Fabian Reinhard has gained experience playing in such orchestras as the German Youth Orchestra; the newly founded chamber orchestra Modus 2; Wiener Jeunesses Orchester; Philharmonisches Orchester in Graz, Austria; and Beethovenorchester Bonn. He attended master courses taught by Professor Becker; Professor Dallmann; Professor Hinterholzer; Professor Lampert; Professor Penzel; and Professor Schmitz.

Proceeding from new technology discoveries in music and in real-time graphic programs, Charles Sadoul develops hybrid creations that combine electronic music, acoustic signals, interactive installations, and digital set images. He uses new technologies (mapping, tracking, augmented reality, sensors) to create a new context, where we perceive and feel differently, where the audience is integrated and actively participates in what can be seen in the end. Charles Sadoul confronts the challenges digital technologies present and that redefine the relationship between art and technology – by demolishing consisting conventions and leaving behind established patterns of thinking. 

Ruben Mattia Santorsa is an Italian classical and electric guitarist. He graduated the Master of Performance at the Hochschule of Bern with Elena Càsoli with Auszeichnung. He is attending the Solistendiplom in Bern and won the scholarship Swiss Government Excellence for the years 2013-2015. He graduated with the maximum note at the conservatory of Verona and with the maximum note and lode at the Biennio Sperimentale of guitar with Walter Zanetti at the conservatory of Bologna. He has given several solo recitals in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Germany and Colombia in cities like Wien (Istituto Italiano di Cultura), Bogotà (Universidad de los Andes), Lugano (Auditorium Rsi) etc. He is specializing in contemporary music, and met and worked with composers like H. Lachenmann, H. Oehring, S. Sciarrino, G Manzoni, S.Bussotti, M. Pisati, C. Peralta. He played the premieres of pieces by many composers among which H. Oehring, C. Peralta, R.Quindici, M. Azzan and R. De Cia.    

Stephanie Schadeweg was born in 1978 in Wittenberge, Germany, in the state of Brandenburg. From 2000 to 2004 she completed her studies in theater at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater (HfMT) – for her thesis she played the role of Mrs. Martin in Ionesco's "The Bald Soprano," directed by Annette Pullen. Already during her studies she was performing at Kampnagel (in the role of Agnes in Kleist's "The Schroffenstein Family," directed by Hanna Rudolph), and at Thalia Theater in Hamburg. From 2004 to 2008 she was a member of the ensemble at Münchner Volkstheater; she has been a guest performer there since 2008. In Munich she has played, among other roles, Karoline in "Kasimir and Karoline" by Ödön von Horváth; Olivia in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night"; Marie in "Woyzeck" by Georg Büchner; Helena in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"; and Marie in Molnar's "Liliom." She has worked with, among others, the directors Christian Stückl; Florian Fiedler; Jorinde Dröse; Christine Eder; and Frank Abt, and she collaborated with the director Carsten Golbeck on a series of live audio plays. She also worked with Frank Abt as a guest performer at Thalia Theater (in "Ein Fuchs reißt Kaninchen") and at Schauspielhaus Bochum (in "Superstar"). In addition, she has played several roles in films and on television. Stephanie Schadeweg has been a member of the ensemble at Theater Osnabrück since the season 2011/2012. Her important roles were, among others, Minna von Barnhelm (2011); Olga in "Three Sisters" (2012); Anne Holz in "X-Freunde" (2014); Isabell in "The Black Obelisk" (2015); and she was part of the production "Doctor Faustus" (2015).

Since 1999, Katrin Schafitel works as a freelance dancer and dance teacher. She collaborated with different choreographers and directors, with which she could be seen at national and international festivals. In 2012, she won the Critics Prize with the duet "Boléro Bolero" at the Festival of Miniatures Choreographic in Belgrade, together with Katja Wachter. In 2013, she got awarded the work and training grant from the city of Munich to develop her own choreographic works.

Katrin Schafitel is interested in interfaces to dance, music and speech. Developing Compositions, where the resulting elements of sound, music and dance both face and question each other: Who or what is sound-body, music-body, dancing-body, resonance-body, instrument?

Born in Rosenheim, Germany, he studied composition in Munich and Basel. In addition to numerous grants and invitations, he received a scholarship in 2005 from the Akademie Schloss Solitude, and in 2012 he was awarded the »German Film Critic's Prize«. His work ranges from classical compositions with or without live electronics to music for films and for sound installations. His works have been performed by, among others, Ensemble Phönix Basel; Ensemble Ascolta; Ensemble Wiener Collage; Ensemble Gelberklang; Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart; and at festivals such as Devantgarde-Festival; Wien Modern; Ludwigsburger Festival für Neue Musik; and Festspiele Europäische Wochen Passau. 

Andreas started his first cello lessons at the age of five with Hartmut Tröndle. He continued receiving lessons from Eldar Issakadze (Ingolstadt) and after with Prof. Stephan Haack (Section leader of Münchner Philharmoniker). He participated in Masterclasses by Prof. Danjulo Ishizaka, Maximilian Hornung, Prof. Wolfgang Böttcher, Prof. Lazslo Fenyö and Kent Nagano. In 2007 he was awarded the Culture Prize of Bobingen city. He received scholarships for the International Masterclasses in Canada 'Stage des Cordes' (2006, 2013). At the age of 14 he started learning from Prof. Jean-Guihen Queyras as a young student in Musikhochschule Stuttgart. A year later he was awarded the first prize in National youth competition ('Jugend-Musiziert') and also the Classical prize from WDR (West-German-Broadcast). His first debut was at the age of 17 with the Romanian State Philharmonic Orchestra of Bacau playing the Dvorak Cello concerto. Until now he is performing in many International festivals such as cities in Amsterdam, Gstaad and Salzburg.
Since 2011 he is a scholar in the foundation 'Live Music Now' and from 2014 he is studying with Prof. Julius Berger in Augsburg. Last year he won the first prize in the International Johann- Andreas-Stein Competition. 

Johann-Michael Schneider, born in 1966 in Hannover; studied violin from 1989 - 1993 at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln; in 1994 assistant to the director R. Ciulli, Theater an der Ruhr; from 1995 -1998 actor at Theater Dortmund; since 1998 freelance actor and (theater) musician at several theaters; regular work with people with disabilities; since 2006 also a director; independent music-theater projects. My main interest is – put briefly - the musical aspect of acting and the theatrical aspect of music.

The clarinetist Stefan Schneider from Munich is a freelance musician and a regular guest performer with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester; the Münchner Philharmoniker; the Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester; and numerous other German and European orchestras.

Stefan Schneider has been the first clarinetist with the Münchener Kammerorchester since 1995; he displays a special commitment to the diversity of clarinets – in particular the bass and double bass clarinet – and thus a commitment to, in terms of style, a wide-ranging repertoire of chamber music and orchestral works up to the present.

From 2009 to 2015 Stefan Schneider was a guest professor of clarinet at the University of Music Freiburg in Germany.

Carolin Marietta Schogs, born in Bonn, Germany in 1985 is a costume designer and artist, based in Berlin.

She studied costume design in Hamburg and Berlin. After graduating she began a professional career as a freelance costume designer, working at theatres including Theater Freiburg, Theater Magdeburg, Nationaltheater Weimar, 13th Münchner Biennale für Neues Musiktheater and Ballhaus Ost and Theaterdiscounter, both in Berlin. She continually works in close collaboration with Berlin-based director Brit Bartkowiak. Together they worked at, among others, Deutsches Theater Berlin, Nationaltheater Mainz, Deutsches Theater Göttingen and Stadttheater Ingolstadt.

Carolin Schogs creates performances and video installations focussing on the influence of society on the human body.

Born and raised in South Dakota, Robyn Schulkowsky has been an innovator and collaborator throughout her life. Already during her studies in Iowa and Germany, and later on international solo tours, Schulkowsky has dedicated herself to revealing the wonders of percussion to people around the world. Her continuous exploration of new sound dimensions has led to the development of new and unusual musical instruments.

An active musician on five continents, Robyn moved to Germany during a heyday of experimental and adventurous classical composition. She has premiered and recorded some of the most important percussion works of the 20th and 21st centuries, working with composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen. John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, and Morton Feldman, presenting their works during tours to West Africa, India, Asia, South America and Mexico, the USA, as well as at major European Music Festivals.

Robyn Schulkowsky's adventurous nature connects her with exceptional project partners, and, also with alternative performance spaces. She has collaborated with legendary African drummer Kofi Ghanaba, visual artist Guenther Uecker, actress Edith Clever, social scientist Nilam Ram, and choreographers Merce Cunningham and Sasha Waltz.

Since 1998, as founder of RhythmLab, she has taken drumming workshops to countless cities, involving students, professionals and aficionados alike in rhythm workshops and concerts of original percussion music. Originally conceived for children and teenagers, often conducted specifically for adults, the experience focuses on the immediacy of sonic discovery and the tactile intensity in music. in rhythm, sound and movement. Last year, based on sketches by the American composer Charles Ives.  she directed an interpretation of "Life Pulse Prelude" with over 80 percussionists in Bonn and Berlin, Germany.

Schulkowsky's virtuosity has been captured on over 20 recordings, including cds with violist Kim Kashkashian and trumpet players Nils Petter Molvaer and Reinhold Friedrich, and seminal recordings of compositions by Morton Feldman and Christian Wolff, with whom she has collaborated for over 20 years.

In 2005 she collaborated with the sound aritist Lukas Kuehne and the drummet Joey Baron for Space and Frequency-RhythmLab, a Live Sonic Sculpture in New York's Grand Central Station. Her opera, »Child of the Sea Otter« was Premiered in Oldenburg, Germany in 2008 and repeated in Berlin and Mannheim. Her percussion trio composition, »Armadillo«,  was released last year on New World Records.

Born in 1978, Adelin Schweitzer lives and works in Marseille. He obtains his diploma (DNSEP) to the College of Art of Aix-en-Provence in 2004 when he discovered artists as Tinguely, Marc Pauline du S.R.L either still Stelarc. Inside the LEOIL, the mecatronics laboratory of the school, he spends a big part of his time to experiment in the field of the new technologies. Since 2014, he takes care of two art group, »deletere« and the »drones bastard group« focusing the field of his researches on the relations man / machine through concepts like disnovation, techno - shamanism and deceleration processes.

Born in Munich and trained in Vienna, Annette Schönmüller gained rapidly increasing attention for her impressive stage presence and vocal intensity and received rave reviews for her performances of music theater works from the late romantic and modern period as well as from the late 20th and 21st Century.

In 2014/2015 season she had great success in the world premiere of Rolf Riehm's Sirenen, making her debut at the Oper Frankfurt, conducted by Martyn Brabbins and staged by Tobias Heyder. In Salvatore Sciarrinos "Infinito nero" conducted by Marino Formenti she is invited to the Biennale Salzburg and gives her debut at Staatstheater Darmstadt in a scenic production of Prometeo by Luigi Nono under the baton of Johannes Harneit, followed by concerts at the Ostrava New Music Festival/CZ, where she perfoms works by Wolfgang Rihm and Rolf Riehm (world premiere).

Her plans include the opening of Münchener Biennale für zeitgenössisches Musiktheater 2016 as the female protagonist in the world premiere of David Fennessys musictheatre „The sweat of the sun“ (2017 at Operadagen Rotterdam and at Theater Osnabrück), her debut at Brucknerhaus Linz with H.W. Henzes "El rey de Harlem" under the baton of Johannes Kalitzke at Festival Neue Musik and Magdalena in Gottfried von Einems "Jesu Hochzeit" under the baton of Jonathan Stockhammer at the Festival Carinthischer Sommer (Carinthian Summer) .

After having big success in the title part in Paradise reloaded (Lilith) by Peter Eötvös, who wrote the main part espacially for Annette Schönmüller, at the Festival WIEN MODERN 2013 (directed by Johannes Erath, conducted by Walter Kobéra), the production was also shown at the Palace of Arts in Budapest and recorded for CD (BMC records / Hungarian RSO under the baton of GMD Gergely Vajda).

At the Wiener Festwochen 2013 she sang in the world premiere of Franz Koglmann‘s media opera "JOIN!" (a netzzeit co-production).

Appearances in the 2012/2013 season include Peter Eötvös’ opera Harakiri and Radames at the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, the title role in Peter Maxwell Davies Miss Donnithorne's Maggot at the Wiener Kammeroper and G. Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre (Mescalina) at the Neue Oper Wien/Museumsquartier Wien.

In March 2012, the mezzo-soprano made her debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw as Malik in Henze's L'Upupa, under the baton of Markus Stenz.

In April 2011 Annette Schönmüller made a very successful debut at the Theater an der Wien in Peter Maxwell Davies´ Monooper for solo mezzo Das Medium, (Director: Peter Pawlik): " highest vocal and dramatic intensity " (Wiener Zeitung). 

In the 2010/2011 season she was highly praised by audience and press as „Geesche Gottfried“ in Hölszky’s Bremer Freiheit at the Berlin Konzerthaus: "impressive" (Berliner Zeitung), " irresistible” (..) probably the best opera production of the season (...) great contemporary musical theater." (Berliner Morgenpost) - "One of the best performances of recent times." (Orpheus).

Further performances in 2011 include a lecture recital with Aribert Reimann at the Curt-Sachs-Saal of the Berlin Philharmonie, on request of the composer as well as the premiere of Richard Dünser’s orchestral arrangement of Schönberg „Das Buch der hängenden Gärten“ at the Philharmonie in Graz. 

Sita was born  in Neustadt, Germany as Sven Schmidt and grew up in Hamburg. After a 4-month long-lasting work as a trainee at the Deutsche Theater Berlin, he began 2012 his studies of costume design at the Hochschule Hannover. He received a scholarship in New York City, during the practical part of his studies. Therefore he worked for the French artist Letitia Soulier for four months in 2014. Besides his studies he made practical works as a costume designer for »Idomeneo« (directed by Julia Hübner) at the conservatory Hanns-Eisler in Berlin as well as a music video for the Danish band »Brummen«. During a joint project of the Theaterakademie Hamburg he met director Abdullah Kenan Karaca and worked with him as a costume designer for the production »Der jüngste Tag« at the painter hall at the Deutsche Schauspielhaus Hamburg. The collaboration continued  for the productions »Die Präsidentinnen« and »Katzelmacher« at the Münchner Volkstheater. Besides his work as a costume designer he is also a performance artist.

The Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz has had an influence on the music culture of the city of Mainz for centuries, and it has developed into one of the most important orchestras in the entire Rhine-Main-Neckar-Rivers region. As principal conductor of the orchestra since the 2011/2012 season, Hermann Bäumer has been extremely successful in continuing this development. In addition to their participation in the music theater performances of Staatstheater Mainz, the musicians of the orchestra can be heard performing in various concert series: The symphony concerts, special concerts, and chamber concerts are distinguished by an evocative and dynamic program that is also open to innovation and experiments. The orchestra regularly works with renowned guest conductors, most recently with, among others, Krzysztof Penderecki; Olari Elts; Michail Jurowski; Marko Letonja; Alun Francis; Patrik Lange; and Andreas Spering; and with guest soloists such as Isabelle Faust; Midori; Antje Weithaas; Jörg Widmann; Herbert Schuch; Christian Poltéra; Tzimon Barto; Kolja Blacher; Julian Steckel; Baiba Skride; and Lilya Zilberstein.

Born in 1976 in Odder, Denmark. Studied music (composition) starting in 1998 in Århus under Karl Aage Rasmussen; in 2001/2002 under Mathias Spahlinger in Freiburg; in 2003/2004 under Gabriel Valverde in Buenos Aires; and from 2004-2006 under Bent Sørensen and Hans Abrahamsen in Copenhagen. Numerous awards and grants, including, among others, from the Danish Art Foundation; the Léonie Sonning Music Foundation; and the Darmstädter Ferienkursen (Kranichstein Music Prize 2008). Diverse residencies as a guest artist. Compositions commissioned by, among others, ensemble recherche for the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2007; Ensemble Modern; Radio-Kammerphilharmonie Hilversum; and Sinfonieorchester Shanghai. His works have been performed by ensembles such as ICTUS; Collegium Novum Zürich; and the Silesian String Quartet.

He has been teaching composition since 2008 at the Royal Academy of Music in Århus; publications in magazines such as kunstMUSIK; Dansk Musik Tidsskrift; and Parergon (Norway). Co-publisher of the Danish magazine of modern art music »AUTOGRAF.org.« The creative work of Simon Steen-Andersen includes compositions for soloists, ensembles, and orchestras, sometimes with unusual additional instruments, devices, and different electro-acoustic deployments, and also audiovisual installations. Frequently the music is given an additional theatrical dimension by the performers' actions.

(website of Simon Steen-Andersen)

Carlo Størup is a synaesthetic composer and synecdoche experimentalist examining existence with a meta methodological approach. Applying various phenomenology characters for different spaces, testing the receptiveness limits of perceiving. Currently writing the scores for cybernetic bio techno cyber Baroque trans humanist projects, in some kind of expanded opera form, with a focus on the human relationship to technology, and art.

In October 1967 I was 13. I was home, in the house, in the bathroom, under the shower, the radio was playing, Schoenberg’s opus 11. Later I studied the wholly traditional piano repertoire, in order for me thereafter, in Paris, to tackle the 20^th century. Winning a number of competitions got a normal career under way, with tours on the continents, premieres and recordings, master classes from China through the Teatro Colòn to New York.

Back then, as member of a highschool management, I brought to life the workshop of contemporary music. Ever since, professional musicians came year after year from all corners of Europe to further their education. For a few years I was also vice-president of the Swiss Musicians Association.

I have been active in interdisciplinary projects with artists such as Alfred Brendel, Bruno Ganz, Roman Signer, Marianne Pousseur, and others.

I love Schubert, the Théâtre musical, the clavichord, gastronomy, and have staged Europera 2 and Staatstheater.

Born in Munich, he studied set design at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice and received his diploma from the Berlin University of the Arts, where he studied under the architect Benedict Tonon and the artist Katarina Sieverding. He has bene working freelance since then, and in his work he moves between visual art, theater, film, and architecture. His theater work focuses on conceiving concepts and developing pieces in collaboration with authors, composers, and directors. In 2008 he and the composer Leo Dick won the sponsorship award from Experimental Music Theater North Rhine-Westphalia for »Kann Heidi brauchen, was es gelernt hat?« (»Can Heidi use what she learned?«). Together with the same team he created the experimental music theater piece »Der Wunsch, Indianer zu werden« (»The Desire to Become a Native American«) for the music festival at Stadttheater Bern in 2011.

(Website)

Christoph Theussl is a native of the state of Styria in southeastern Austria, and he now lives in Munich. He works as a singer-songwriter, actor, performer, music cabaret artist, satirist, author of readings, and presenter. His environment is the stage, his instrument is the guitar, his defense strategy is satire, and his main means of expression is a language that is in terms of culture extremely influenced by his Austrian roots.

Theussl won the Liederbestenliste Sponsorship Award in 2014, as well as the Sponsorship Award of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in 2015, and he is a permanent member of the reading stage "Schwabinger Schaumschläger" in Munich. His first music cabaret solo program "Theussl's Welthitz" had its premiere in the autumn of 2013 at Vereinsheim München. His current CD "endlich - Lieder für alle, die noch leben" ("at last – songs for everyone who's still alive") is a double album on the subject of death, and it was released in 2014 by Verlag Periplaneta Berlin.

Elisabeth Tropper, born in 1984 in Graz, studied German and journalism at the University of Graz and the University of Klagenfurt. She worked as a freelancer for the arts and entertainment section of a regional daily newspaper, completed internships in the area of culture (among others, at steirischen herbst 2003), and worked as a trainee in direction and dramaturgy, and as an assistant director and assistant dramaturge at opera houses and theaters. In 2007 she was hired as an assistant dramaturge and freshman dramaturge by Schauspielhaus Graz, where she worked with, among others, Patrick Schlösser; Georg Schmiedleitner; and Bernadette Sonnenbichler. In addition she was responsible for supervising different formats at Spielstätte Ebene 3. In 2007 she took part in the International Exposure of Israeli Theatre in Tel Aviv. She has been working as a freelance dramaturge since August 2009, and she worked most recently at Hebbel am Ufer (»Man braucht keinen Reiseführer für ein Dorf, das man sieht« [»You don't need a travel guide for a village you can see«] by Tim Staffel, directed by Nurkan Erpulat), as well as at Heimathafen Neukölln (»Sisters« by Andreea Clucerescu, directed by Nicole Oder). 

(Profil auf prothein.de)

Born in 1991 in Biel, Switzerland, Sibill Urweider has been intensely interested since her early childhood years not only in piano but also in voice and movement. Up until she started studying piano under Pierre Sublet at the Bern University of the Arts she trained intensively in rhythmic gymnastics and dance, and she started taking voice lessons from Eliane Geiser at the Musikschule Biel when she was nine years old. This led to a huge interest in contemporary music and interactive manners of expression. To experience music through the body and the voice, to explore it through improvisation and composition, and to create a personal interpretation of the pieces are the central points of her artistic work. After graduating from the program for talented pupils at the secondary school Hofwil Gymnasium and receiving her bachelor's degree in 2012, Sibill Urweider studied for one semester at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. In January 2015 she received her master of arts degree with honors in music education, and immediately afterwards she started studying for her second master's degree, this time in musical theater; she expects to complete her master's degree in the summer of 2016.

Sibill Urweider performs in two bands: in a street musician group by the name of "Sibill et les Beaux," and as a singer in the post-punk band "I MADE YOU A TAPE."

Cathy van Eck (1979 Belgium/Netherlands) is a composer, sound artist, andresearcher in the arts. She focuses on composing relationships between everyday objects, human performers, and sound. Her artistic work includes performances with live-electronics and installations with sound objects which she often designs herself. She is interested in setting her gestures into unusual and surprising relationships with sounds, mainly by electronic means. The result could be called “performative sound art”, since it combines elements from performance art, electronic music, and visual arts. Her work transcends genres and is presented at occasions as diverse as experimental or electronic music concerts, open air rockfestivals, sound art gallery venues, digital art events, or performance art festivals. Cathy is working closely with performers to develop her pieces and she often works in interdisciplinary fields, collaborating regularly with theatre directors and choreographers. Her projects are shown at festivals and venues all over the world such as NYCEMF New York (USA), Chronus Art Gallery Shanghai (China), BONE Performance Art Festival Berne(Switzerland), Klangwerkstatt Berlin (Germany), Hapzura Digital Art Festival (Israel), Avantgarde Schwaz (Austria), Eclat Festival Stuttgart (Germany), SPARK Minneapolis (USA), STEIM Amsterdam and November Music (Netherlands), Spaziomusica Cagliari (Italy), and the Munich Biennale (Germany). Since 2007, Cathy has a teaching position at the Department for Music and Media Arts of the University of the Arts in Bern, Switzerland. She is aregular guest lecturer at other art and music universities. In her PhD research »Between Air« and »Electricity« (supervisors Richard Barrett, Marcel Cobussen and Frans de Ruiter; accepted in 2013 by the University o fLeiden, The Netherlands), she investigated the use of microphones and loudspeakers as musical instruments. She is one of the nominees for the Swiss Music Prize 2015.

Christian Van Schijndel (1972 Knutsford England) is a performance artist, singer and costume designer. He studied at the Camberwell College of Arts and at Middlesex University – Fashion & Textile – in London. As a cabaret performer he has developed a unique style in burlesque, new cabaret and performance that articulates gender, class and identity in an aesthetic, challenging and humorous way. Since 2005 he has appeared in Denmark and international events including New Avenu Theatre, Bellevue Theater, Roskilde Festival, The Danish Design Institute and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (London). Christian Van Schijndel is also the curator and producer of performance theater Warehouse9 where he introduced the “burlesque genre” in Denmark as an art form with the sold-out New Festival in 2010 and 2011, which received nationwide media attention. He has appeared in several TV and radio programs. Christian van Schijndel lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he has been working at Warehouse9 as stage and event manager since its establishment in 2007.

This lyric baritone with Italian ancestry grew up on Lake Constance. He studied voice at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne under Professor Edda Moser, chamber singer, and he received his diploma with honors. He has been working for several years now with Maria Baldauf in Zurich. Guest engagements took him to, among other institutions, Deutsche Oper Berlin; Oper Köln; Festspielhaus Baden-Baden; Staatsoper Hannover; and Istanbul State Opera. He has been a member of the ensemble at Theater Osnabrück since 2006. Among his most important roles were, among others, Danilo ("The Merry Widow"); Malatesta ("Don Pasquale"); Marquis von Posa ("Don Carlo"); and Wolfram von Eschenbach ("Tannhäuser"). Marco Vassalli participated in numerous world premieres including, among others, "Neda" by Nader Mashayekhi, and "Operette" by Mario Wiegand. During the season 2010/2011 he could be seen performing the role of Figaro in the revival of Gioachino Rossini's "The Barber of Seville." He has performed as a concert soloist at, among others, the Philharmonie Köln; Berliner Dom; and Beethovenhalle Bonn. At the beginning of the season 2011/2012 Marco Vassalli performed in the music theater world premiere of "Flügeltraum" at the festival Spieltriebe 4. Afterwards he could be seen performing the roles of Figaro (in the revival of "The Barber of Seville"); Masetto ("Don Giovanni"); and the Count of Luxemburg in Franz Lehár's operetta by the same name. During the seasons 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 he was a guest performer in the role of Mottel Kamzoil in "Fiddler on the Roof," as well as during the season 2013/2014 in the role of Roman in "Comedian Harmonists."

The soprano Susann Vent-Wunderlich was born in Saalfeld, Germany, in the state of Thuringia. After studying music education, history, musicology, applied music, archeology, and art history, she completed her studies in voice at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar under Professor Siegfried Gohritz. She has received several grants, and she has received several awards and been a finalist a number of times in various international and national competitions. She had her opera debut playing the role of Fiordiligi in Mozart's "Così fan tutte" with the Jenaer Philharmonie, conducted by Nicholas Milton. During the season 2010/2011 she had her stage debut at the Semperoper Dresden performing the roles of Second Woman and First Witch/Enchantress in Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas"; during the 2012/2013 season she could be seen at Semperoper Dresden in Henze's "We Come to the River." In 2011 she had her debut in the role of Rosalinde on the Chinese island Guanglu, and she was a guest performer in the Semperoper Dresden production of "Dido and Aeneas" at the Lucerne Festival. As a member of Thüringer Opernstudio she sang at Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar (DNT) the roles of, among others, Micaela and First Lady, and Viclinda in Verdi's "I Lombardi" at the DomStufen-Festspiele in Erfurt in 2012. Concert engagements and guest performances have taken her to China; Spain; France; Hungary; Poland; Austria; Switzerland; and the Czech Republic. Since the season 2012/2013 she has been a permanent member of the ensemble at Theater Osnabrück, where she sang the roles of, among others, Electress Marie in "Der Vogelhändler" and Božena in Dvořák's opera "Vanda." During the season 2014/2015 she could be seen in the role of Marcellina in Mozart's "Figaro"; in the role of Baroness von Freimann in Lortzing's "Der Wildschütz"; and in the role of Marie in Gurlitt's "Soldaten."

Die Sopranistin Susann Vent-Wunderlich wurde im thüringischen Saalfeld geboren. Nach Studien in Schulmusik, Geschichte, Musikwissenschaft, Musikpraxis, Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte absolvierte sie an der Hochschule für Musik „Franz Liszt“ Weimar ein Gesangsstudium bei Prof. Siegfried Gohritz. Ihr Operndebüt hatte die mehrfache Stipendiatin und Preisträgerin/Finalistin verschiedener internationaler und nationaler Wettbewerbe als Fiordiligi in Mozarts Così fan tutte mit der Jenaer Philharmonie unter der Leitung von Nicholas Milton. In der Spielzeit 2010/2011 gab sie als 2nd woman und 1st witch in Purcells Dido and Aeneas ihr Bühnendebüt an der Semperoper Dresden, wo sie 2012/2013 in Henzes Wir erreichen den Fluss zu sehen war. 2011 debütierte sie als Rosalinde auf der chinesischen Insel Guanglu und gastierte mit der Dido and Aeneas-Produktion der Semperoper Dresden bei den Festspielen Luzern. Als Mitglied des Thüringer Opernstudios sang sie am DNT Weimar u. a. die Partien der Micaela sowie der 1. Dame und bei den Domstufen Festspielen Erfurt 2012 die Viclinda in Verdis I Lombardi. Konzertverpflichtungen und Gastengagements führten sie bereits nach China, Spanien, Frankreich, Ungarn, Polen, Österreich, Schweiz und Tschechien. Seit der Spielzeit 2012/2013 ist sie festes Ensemblemitglied am Theater Osnabrück und sang  u. a. die Kurfürstin Marie in Der Vogelhändlerund Božena in Dvořáks Oper Vanda. In der Spielzeit 2014/15 war sie als Marcellina in Mozarts Figaro sowie als Barnonin Freimann in Lortzings Der Wildschütz und als Marie in Gurlitts Soldaten zu erleben.

Leslie Visco was born in Naples where she begun her studies and where in 2009 she graduated in singing at San Pietro a Majella Conservatory. She has sung as soloist in several festivals as Associazione Scarlatti di Napoli at Sant’Elmo concert Hall in Naples, Pavia Barocca Festival at Collegio Ghislieri in Pavia, Bilbao Ars Sacrum Festival (Spain), Festival Hactus Umanus Danzig (Poland), Copenhagen Renaissance Music Festival (Denmark), Opera Royal de Wallonie (Belgium). She has debuted with “Glossa” record company by publishing with “ I Turchini “ and Antonio Florio a motet by A. Scarlatti in 2012 and “ La Santissima Trinità” , oratorio by G. Veneziano, in 2013. She has participated to 40th “ Festival della valle dell’Itria “ in Martina Franca where she has sung for the opera “Armida” by T. Traetta , conducted by Diego Fasolis and in 2014 she has been in a tournèe with Stefano Montanari among Veneto, Dresden and Berlin in the project “MusikPodium Dresden – Venice“. In the seasen 2014/2015 she has sung for the opera “Marriage of Figaro” by W. A. Mozart and for “Germanicus“ by G. Ph. Telemann at Theater Osnabrück. Still in 2015 she has been invited for the 1^st Ryan Opera Center International Residency which took place in Chicago at Lyric Opera and she attended the “Accademia Rossiniana“ in Pesaro, directed by Alberto Zedda, from where she has been selected to sing Madama Cortese in “Viaggio a Reims“ at Rossini Opera Festival 2015.

Born in 1979 in Monschau in the Eifel region of Germany, he lives as a freelance composer in Berlin. Genoël von Lilienstern studied composition in Bremen, Berlin, and Den Haag under, among others, Younghi Pagh-Paan; Clarence Barlow; and Hanspeter Kyburz. He attended master classes taught by Georges Aperghis; Douglas Repetto; Brian Eno; and Peter Eötvös, and he received grants from the Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt; Darmstädter Ferienkurse; the Berlin University of the Arts; and Cité Internationale des Arts Paris. He won the Hanns Eisler Award for contemporary music composition and interpretation; the Ring.Award.off in 2008; a special award from Komische Oper Berlin for his opera "Rigolator"; and the Gargonza Arts Award in 2012. In 2013 he was a guest lecturer at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University. His works are performed by, among others, Ensemble Intercontemporain; SWR Orchester; and Ensemble Modern.

As a co-founder of and flutist in Ensemble Modern he has been actively involved since the beginning in all of the artistic and organizational processes of the ensemble, and he works with the most important composers of his time. He performs regularly in Germany and abroad, and also as a soloist with orchestras such as, among others, the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden and Freiburg. He has worked as a composer for installations and music theater productions at, among other institutions, Comédie Française Paris; Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg; and Schauspiel Frankfurt. In 1994 he founded with Hermann Kretzschmar and Catherine Milliken the composer formation HCD Productions. He has been a lecturer at the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) and the Frankfurter Musikhochschule (HfMDK) since 2005. He has been the director of the educational projects »lautstark« of the music festival Klangspuren Schwaz and ›Zukunft@Bphil‹ of the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2007.

Born in 1979 in Bern, he studied theater studies at the University of Bern and attended at the same time the Bern University of the Arts; he graduated in 2004 with a performance diploma in violoncello. From 2006-2011 he studied theater and music theater direction at the Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich. He develops theme-related music performance projects in the independent theater and music theater scene, and he directed productions at, among other institutions, Münchner Kammerspiele; Stadttheater Bremerhaven; Badischen Staatstheater Karlsruhe; Stadttheater Bern; and the Biennale Bern. In 2011 Till Wyler von Ballmoos was awarded the debut sponsorship prize from the City of Munich for the production »Was is'n los?« (»So what's the story?«). His production of »Der Tod und das Mädchen - ein Wiederhall« (»Death and the Girl - a reverberation«) based on the text by Ariel Dorfman won the Best Director award at the Bayerische Theatertagen 2011 in Bamberg. He composes and produces music for international film, dance, and theater productions, and he was the artistic director of WIM Bern (Werkstatt für Improvisierte Musik) and Musikfestwochen Bern.

(Website)

Yassu Yabara is a freelance set and costume designer in Berlin, and she works with different teams on developing works, on experimental music theater concepts, and on opera performances.

 Since she received her diploma in 2011 from the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin she has had a multitude of different experiences working with diverse artistic teams on independent productions in Berlin, Switzerland, and at municipal theaters in Germany. She has worked with, among others, Nis-Momme Stockmann at Schauspiel Frankfurt and Stadttheater Heidelberg; Georg Schütky at Oper Leipzig and Staatstheater Mainz; and Julia Lwowski at Sophiensäle, Ballhaus Ost, Galerina Steiner, and Neuköllner Oper.

She recently worked with Beate Baron on »Drei Einakter« (»Three One-acts«) by Bohuslav Martinu at Oper Frankfurt in the Bockenheimer Depot, and she worked with Nele Jahnke and Theater Hora on »Normalität - ein Musical« (»Normality – a musical«) in Zurich at Rote Fabrik.

(Website)

Odilo Zapf, geboren 1974, studierte Posaune an der Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg bei Martin Göß und Andreas Kraft. Neben der klassischen Orchesterausbildung beschäftigte er sich während des Studiums auch intensiv mit zeitgenössischer Musik.

Berufliche Erfahrung sammelte er unter anderem im Staatsorchester Koblenz und der Meininger Hofkapelle. Seit vielen Jahren ist er Mitglied des Orchesters der Klangverwaltung unter Enoch zu Guttenberg und als freischaffender Musiker in verschiedenen Orchestern und Formationen aktiv, wie zum Beispiel dem Ensemble Bavarian Chamber Brass.

Seit 2005 unterrichtet er an der Musikschule Freising und ist seit 2009 dort auch als stellvertretender Musikschulleiter tätig.

Johannes Öllinger performs as a soloist and chamber music musician in ensembles, orchestras, and music theater productions. His main instruments are the acoustic and electric guitars, and he also plays banjo, theorbo, and electric bass guitar. Öllinger's spectrum ranges from early music on ancient and modern instruments to the classical guitar repertoire to contemporary music in diverse variations. As a soloist he has performed concerts at Laeiszhalle in Hamburg; Prinzregententheater in Munich; Konzerthaus Wien in Vienna; and at the Salzburg Festival. As part of "steuber.öllinger," a guitar duo specializing in contemporary music, he has been a guest performer at festivals in Germany; Poland; and the U.S. He performs regularly with ensembles such as Resonanz; musikFabrik NRW; Ensemble Modern Orchestra; and with the orchestras Staatsorchester Stuttgart and the symphony orchestra of the broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk. He has been a guest performer and musician at theaters in Berlin; Vienna; Hamburg; Frankfurt; and Düsseldorf, and he has worked with the directors Anna Malunat and Florentine Klepper.

Marco Štorman, born in 1980 in Hamburg, finished his studies in direction at the Otto-Falckenberg-Schule in Munich in 2005. He was an assistant to, among others, Christoph Schlingensief; Jossi Wieler; Andreas Kriegenburg; Stephan Kimmig; and Schorsch Kamerun. He received various scholarships and in 2006 he founded the group Kulturfiliale. In 2011 he shot his first film, »Juliaugust,« which won an award at the 9^th berlin film awards. In collaboration with the Goethe Institute he produced municipal installations in Melbourne and Adelaide in 2011 and 2013. He works as a freelance director at, among other institutions, Thalia Theater in Hamburg; Schauspiel Hannover; Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus; and Junge Oper Stuttgart.