Lotte de Beer

Lotte de Beer (born 11 August 1981^[1]) is a Dutch opera director.

Biography

Raised in Mheer in the Zuid-Limburg region of Limburg, de Beer studied singing and piano in her youth.^[2] She subsequently developed an interest in acting, and studied acting at the Toneelschool Maastricht. She subsequently studied directing at the Amsterdam University of the Arts, from which she graduated in 2009.^[3] She was a prizewinner in the Ton Lutz Awards in 2009 for grooste regietalent (greatest directing talent),^[3] for her production of Hauptling Abendwind / Vent du Soir. Her mentors have included Peter Konwitschny^[4] and Pierre Audi.^[3]

In 2010, de Beer founded Operafront, an opera company based in Amsterdam focused on small-scale and experimental productions of opera,^[3] and became its first artistic director.^[4] Her work with contemporary opera has included directing the premiere productions of the new operas Waiting for Miss Monroe^[5] and The New Prince,^[6] both for Dutch National Opera.

Outside of The Netherlands, de Beer directed the Bavarian State Opera's first full staging of Puccini's Il Trittico, in Italian, in December 2017.^[7] She has directed productions at the Bregenz Festival, the Aalto-Musiktheater (Essen), the Theater an der Wien,^[2] the Münchener Biennale and Oper Leipzig.^[3] In October 2020, the Vienna Volksoper announced the appointment of de Beer as its next artistic director, the first woman ever named to the post,^[8][9] effective 1 September 2022, with an initial contract of 5 years.^[10]

In 2015, de Beer was a prize winner in the Newcomer category of the International Opera Awards in London.^[11]

References

1. "Niederländerin Lotte de Beer übernimmt 2022 die Wiener Volksoper". Tiroler Tageszeitung. 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
2. Jochen Rietjens (2020-10-06). "Maastrichtse wordt artistiek directeur Weense Volksopera". 1Limburg. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
3. Erik Voermans (2016-08-11). "Operaregisseur Lotte de Beer: 'Ik wil opera van deze tijd maken'". Het Parool. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
4. Nina Siegal (2014-08-28). "Breaking the Rules of Opera for a New Generation". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
5. George Loomis (2012-06-12). "A Dutch Take on a Cultural Icon". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
6. Nina Siegal (2017-04-15). "A Machiavellian Opera for Trump-Era Issues of Truth and Lies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
7. Mordechai Aranowicz (2017-12-20). "de Beer oogst lof met Münchner Trittico". Opera Magazine. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
8. "Lotte de Beer wird neue Direktorin der Wiener Volksoper". Die Presse. 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
9. Christoph Irrgeher (2020-10-06). "Lotte de Beer wird Direktorin der Wiener Volksoper". Wiener Zeitung. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
10. "Lotte de Beer wird neue Volksopern-Direktorin" (Press release). Volksoper Wien. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
11. "Lotte de Beer wird Volksoperndirektorin". ORF. 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2020-12-22.

External links

• Alferink Artists Management agency page on Lotte de Beer
• Dutch National Opera & Ballet biography of Lotte de Beer
• Official homepage of Operafront
• George Loomis, "Opera for an Era When Money Is Tight". The New York Times, "IHT Rendezvous" blog, 24 February 2013

Cultural offices
Preceded by Robert Meyer	Artistic Director, Vienna Volksoper 2022–present	Succeeded by incumbent