Concepts in Music Theater Direction

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IMT_Produktion Hexe Dido

Degree Program; Concepts in Music Theater Direction

Music theater is more than opera. It is created in a cultural, political and social force field. Like no other multimedia art form, it can convey, explore, and expand aesthetic and social experiences. This is what makes stage direction so exciting, but also so demanding and consequential.

At the Institute for Music Theater, aspiring directors explore new and traditional communication channels and methodological approaches. Research and craft go hand in hand, deepening the understanding of aesthetic relationships and curiosity about innovative forms of theater.

The training is wide-ranging (see the course schedule) and individually tailored to personal profiles of students.

The core of course offerings are given by internationally renowned directors such as Tatjana Gürbaca, Stefan Herheim, Peter Konwitschny, and Vera Nemirova. Campus One - Gottesaue Palace offers unique spatial possibilities, including the multimedia theater complex MUT, which opened in 2013 as an experimental space for teaching, rehearsals and performances as a  modulable hall.

As part of Karlsruhe’s cultural landscape, with the Center for Art and Media Technology (ZKM) and the University of Design (HfG) as cooperative partners,  perspectives are offered to explore new forms of music theater. Another partner is the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. There are also inhouse collaborations with the Institute for Music Informatics and Musicology (IMWI), ComputerStudio, and Ensemble for New Music.

Karlsruhe, possessing a renowned state theater, is located in the center of a theater region of unique diversity: Basel, Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Kaiserslautern, Mainz, Mannheim, Pforzheim, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, and Wiesbaden each have their own opera house. The exchange of ideas between theater professionals who are active there and Karlsruhe students occurs at a variety of events.