Clarification demanded

Brucknerhaus: Artistic Director struggles with accusations

Head of the Brucknerhaus Dietmar Kerschbaum

(Bild: Foto Kerschi)

Following a critical audit report on the Brucknerhaus by the Linz Audit Office in July 2023, Artistic Director Dietmar Kerschbaum is facing new accusations. As reported online by "Falter" on Tuesday, the report is likely to concern questionable "self-dealing" and the awarding of the programming to an artist agency. His appointment is also said to have been delayed.

Dietmar Kerschbaum had prevailed against his competitors in the hearing in 2017. The Burgenland native received seven out of twelve votes, four members voted against him and one abstained. According to "Falter", emails are available according to which Kerschbaum is said to have already received the commission's questions before the hearing, which he did not deny when asked.

Mayor assures clarification
Liva Supervisory Board Chairman Mayor Klaus Luger (SPÖ) claims to have learned about this in November 2023, the report continued. A commissioned legal opinion will be presented at the Supervisory Board meeting on Friday. Luger confirmed this in a press release late on Tuesday afternoon shortly before the online article appeared.

As Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Linzer Veranstaltungsgesellschaft (LIVA), he now assures complete clarification.

The meeting next Friday will also serve to discuss in detail "the concrete further consequences that need to be drawn", said the mayor.

The Mayor of Linz, Klaus Luger

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Mixing of functions
This meeting will also look into the internal transactions. Kerschbaum is also a trained tenor. According to the article, the artistic director himself was involved in performances in his own house and probably allowed himself special treatment. At the musical Advent calendar, for example, the artists only received an expense allowance of 200 euros, while Kerschbaum is said to have been granted a fee of 5,000 euros.

Outsourcing to an agency
It will also be discussed on Friday that the artistic director has outsourced the Brucknerhaus' program planning to an international artist agency as of June 2023, as we reported.

Statement from Kerschbaum
Brucknerhaus director Dieter Kerschbaum has now also issued a statement: "The conclusions drawn by 'Falter' on the points presented in the article are not correct. As already published in a press release on the homepage of the City of Linz, a meeting of the LIVA Supervisory Board will be held next Friday to discuss all the allegations. This is entirely in my interest so that the allegations made can be corrected."

Last year, the city's audit office criticized the fact that there was no regulation for the allocation of free tickets and spoke of a proliferation of subscription offers with a sharp decline in subscriber numbers and increased representation costs.