Sebastian F. SCHWARZ
Artistic Director of the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca and of the Accademia del belcanto “Rodolfo Celletti”
Born in Rostock, Germany, in 1974, Sebastian F. Schwarz took the equivalent to B.A. “sehr gut” in Musicology from Freie Universität Berlin, carried out vocal studies at Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, Italy, and graduated “summa cum laude” in Theatre Administration and Entertainment Artistic Techniques at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. Later he collaborated with the Bayreuther Festival and dealt with the organization of several masterclasses in Leadership and Management Development in Vienna and in Strategic Leadership in England.
He started his professional career in 1991 at the Volkstheater in Rostock, at the Dramaturgy department and as a Stage Manager; then he engaged in community service within a program of humanitarian aid in Moscow and Voronezh, and worked as the External Consultant for Public Relations at the Helikon Opera House in Moscow.
In 1998, Schwarz moved to Venice, where he was a language coach for German, English and Russian productions at the Teatro La Fenice. In 2002, he was entrusted with the management of the opera department at Walter Beloch Artists Management. In 2004, he worked for the Company Management at Wexford Festival Opera in Ireland and, in 2007, he was appointed Assistant to the Director of Opera at Hamburgische Staatsoper in Germany.
In 2010, at the Innsbrucker Festwochen für Alte Musik, he contributed to the foundation of the Pietro Antonio Cesti International Voice Competition for Baroque Opera, of which he was the Artistic Director and head of the jury until 2016.
In 2015, he started his career as university professor at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts and from current year, he has also taught at Mozarteum University in Salzburg. He is regularly invited to teach in masterclasses and workshops held by Plácido Domingo, Galina Vishnevskaja and Jury Bashmet.
From 2008 to 2016, Schwarz was the Director of Artistic Administration and Casting Manager of the Theater an der Wien; moreover, from 2012 to 2016, he has also been the Artistic Director of the Kammeroper Wien and founder of the Young Artist Program at the Theater an der Wien (JET).
From 2016 to 2018 he held the position as Superintendent and Artistic Director of the Glyndebourne Festival, where his programming was a great success, particularly the new production Hipermestra by Francesco Cavalli, directed by Graham Vick, the world premiere of Hamlet by Brett Dean, under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski, and Vanessa by Samuel Barber staged by Keith Warner and directed by Jakůb Hruša. In 2018, he created and presided over the Glyndebourne Opera Cup, an international opera voice competition. He was also engaged in the organization of the program and tours of the festival up to 2021.
He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Opera Europa and of the National Opera Studio in London. Since 2017, he has been sitting in the Council of the Europäischen Musiktheater – akademie (European Academy of Musical Theatre). From 2018, he has been a member of the International Richard Strauss Society and from 2019 of the International Richard Wagner Society. As an enthusiast learner of languages, he fluently speaks German, English, Russian, Italian, Czech, French, Spanish and Portuguese.
In 2015 the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, awarded him the title of Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy.
From 24 July 2019 to 11 September 2020, he was the General Manager of the Teatro Regio Torino, as well as the Artistic Director, a position he is still holding after the appointment of Rosanna Purchia as Extraordinary Commissioner.
Schwarz is also the Artistic Director of the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca and of the Accademia del belcanto “Rodolfo Celletti”.