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.