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 productions in Hamburg, 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. Mr Montavon directed Carmen for the inauguration of the new opera house in Helsinki, in 1993 and from 1996 onwards, he 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. He is a jury member for a number of renowned singing competitions and a guest lecturer in Operatic Interpretation at the university of Tokyo.

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

Mr. Montavon will direct Andrea Chénier in Erfurt with set designer Edoardo Sanchi and Otello at the Theater Würzburg with set designer Francesco Calcagnini.