Guy Montavon - Director

Guy Montavon is General Manager of the Erfurt Opera Company/Germany since August 2002. He was born in Geneva, where he graduated  in bassoon and worked as assistant director at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. After that he studied Musical Theatre Direction at the Hamburg Academy of Drama and Music under the famous german director Götz Friedrich. As an assistant to the internationally renowned director Giancarlo Del Monaco, Guy Montavon worked at many different opera houses, including those of Hamburg, Berlin, Stuttgart, Bregenz and Barcelona, as well as at the New York Metropolitan Opera. After graduating in 1986, he directed at the Hamburg State Opera, Livorno, Pisa, Lyon, St. Gallen, Montpellier and Saarbrücken.

From 1992 to 1995 he held a long-term appointment as Artistic Director and Deputy Operatic Director at the Bonn opera house. Guy Montavon directed Carmen for the inauguration of the new opera house in Helsinki, in 1993. From 1996 onwards, Guy Montavon was Theatre Director and Managing Director of the Stadttheater Giessen GmbH. Among his engagements it is worth mentioning: Lucia di Lammermor in Montreal; Otello in Palm Beach; Strauss’ Friedenstag at the DomStufen-Festspiele in Erfurt where he also directed the fairy-tale opera Das geheime Königreich by Ernst Krenek. Mr Montavon directed in 2005 the world première of the new opera Waiting for the barbarians from the American composer Philip Glass. Guy Montavon is a jury member for a number of renowned singing competitions and a guest lecturer in Operatic Interpretation at the university of Tokyo.

Guy Montavon became in 2008 “Chevallier des arts et lettres” of the French Republic.

Francesco Calcagnini - set and costume designer

Francesco Calcagnini was born in Pesaro and graduated in 1985 in set design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino with the highest possible honours. Mr. Calcagnini combines his activities as a designer and director for spoken theatre, opera and ballet with his position as lecturer in design at the Sassari and Urbino Academy of Fine Arts. He has collaborated with directors including Lorenza Codignola, Raffaella Giordano, Giorgio Rossi, Stefano Vizioli, Pino Micol, Federico Tiezzi, Gabriele Vacis, Antonio Calenda, Dario Fo, Emilio Sagi and Luca Ronconi. Collaborations in productions of the last two years include: Yvonne Princesse de Bourgogne at Det Norske Teatret in Oslo with the director Cilla Back; revival at Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro of L'Equivoco Stravagante with the direction of Emilio Sagi; Passage to India Federico Tiezzi directing at the Teatro Metastasio di Prato; set and costumes for El laboratorio del Dr. Fausto at the Teatro Real in Madrid and Stiffelio at Teatro Regio of Parma, Guy Monatvon directing.