Salzburg Festival

Seven men and one woman want the directorship

Eight candidates (seven men and one woman) have applied for the directorship of the Salzburg Festival from October 1, 2026. This was announced by this year's Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Hans Scharfetter. Scharfetter did not answer whether the current artistic director Markus Hinterhäuser was among the eight applicants, citing strict confidentiality. 

The eight applicants include seven men and one woman. Three applicants are from Germany, the other five from other European countries," said the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The applications will now first be checked to see whether they meet the advertised criteria, after which the applicants will be invited to a hearing to get to know them. Scharfetter assumes that all of them meet the criteria. The hearing will take place around the beginning of April. He expects the Board of Trustees to make a decision before the end of April.

"Five years at the longest"
The Salzburg Festival's Board of Trustees advertised for an artistic director "for a maximum of five years" who has "sound experience in the artistic management of a cultural enterprise of comparable size and complexity", "experience in designing a programme on the basis of an independent overall artistic concept", "knowledge of Austrian and international cultural life and its organizational environment, ideally familiar with the specific constellations of the Salzburg Festival" and the "ability to design innovative and creative programmes". 

 "Social competence, strong communication skills, assertiveness and the ability to get things done, determination, negotiating skills and foreign language skills" are required.