Harry Alfred Robert Kupfer was a German opera director and academic. A long-time director at the Komische Oper Berlin, he worked at major opera houses and at festivals internationally. Trained by Walter Felsenstein, he worked in the tradition of realistic directing. At the Bayreuth Festival, he staged Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer in 1978 and Der Ring des Nibelungen in 1988. At the Salzburg Festival, he directed the premiere of Penderecki's Die schwarze Maske in 1986 and Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss in 2014.
Diana Damrau is a German soprano who achieved international fame for her performances, primarily in opera, but also in concert and lieder. She has been successful in coloratura soprano roles since her early career, and gradually proceeded into heavier roles 19th-century Italian bel canto repertoire. Her signature roles include the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Violetta in La traviata.
Ildikó Komlósi is a Hungarian mezzo-soprano.
Kay Griffel is an American operatic spinto soprano.
Andrzej Dobber is a Polish baritone, honored with the title of Kammersänger by the Senate of the City of Hamburg and awarded the silver medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis by the Polish Minister of Culture.
Christopher Ward is a British conductor. In August 2018 he became the Music Director of Theater Aachen.
Sébastien Guèze is a classical French tenor. He sings the French and Italian romantic repertory including Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Gounod, Bizet and Massenet.
Gaston Rivero is an Uruguayan-US American operatic tenor.
Brenda Rae is an American operatic soprano who has performed leading roles in opera houses internationally. She has been a resident artist at the Frankfurt Opera from 2008 till 2017. She is a featured performer on the Naxos Records 2015 recording of Milhaud's L'Orestie d'Eschyle which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.
Nicole Chevalier is an American operatic soprano, who debuted at the renowned Salzburg Festival in the summer of 2019. She was a member of the Komische Oper Berlin, and has been a freelance artist since 2017. Her repertoire includes bel canto as well as Mozart heroines such as Verdi's La Traviata, Donizetti's Maria Stuarda and Lucia di Lammermoor, Mozart's Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Elettra in Idomeneo, and stretches till Aribert Reimann's Medea. In 2016, she was awarded the German National Theatre prize Der Faust for all four female characters in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann.
Vera Nemirova is a Bulgarian-German opera director who has worked at major opera houses in Europe, staging for example Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Oper Frankfurt. She directed for the Munich Biennale and the Salzburg Festival.
Maria Riccarda Wesseling is a Swiss-Dutch operatic mezzo-soprano who has appeared in lead roles at international opera houses and festivals. She created the title role in Henze's last opera, Phaedra, at the Staatsoper Berlin, repeated at La Monnaie in Brussels and in the Barbican Centre.
Marco Arturo Marelli is a Swiss set designer and stage director who has worked at European opera houses for opera and ballet. He designed sets for ballets by John Neumeier, and for premieres of the operas Thomas Chatterton by Matthias Pintscher at the Semperoper in Dresden (1998) and Medea by Aribert Reimann at the Vienna State Opera (2010).
Christof Loy is a German stage director especially for opera, whose work received several awards. A freelance director, he has staged operas from Baroque to premieres of new works at major European opera houses and festivals. He is known for directing works by Mozart.
Benjamin Bernheim is a French lyric tenor known for his interpretation of Italian and French roles.
Zuzana Marková is a Czech coloratura soprano who appears in leading roles internationally, with a focus on Italian belcanto roles, such as Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Bellini's Elvira.
Tijl Faveyts is a Belgian operatic bass. A current member of the Komische Oper Berlin, he has performed leading roles such as Mozart's Sarastro and Hunding in Wagner's Die Walküre at major opera houses, concert halls and festivals, and made recordings.
Gaëlle Arquez is a French operatic mezzo-soprano.
Silvia Tro Santafé is a Spanish lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano. In her early career she was best known for her interpretations of Handel and became notable for her performances of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and in recent years Verdi.
Sarah Defrise is a Belgian soprano born in Brussels, Belgium.
