Søren Schuhmacher  (Germany)

Søren Schuhmacher was born in Hamburg. After studying musicology, theater studies and philosophy at the University of Cologne, he held positions as an assistant director at the opera houses of Bonn, Cologne, Leipzig and Hamburg, the Bayreuth Festival and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels. He also directed international revivals of productions by Christof Loy, Robert Carsen and Günter Krämer. At the State Opera of South Australia he supervised the first Australian complete cycle of Der Ring des Nibelungen.

In 2005 Andreas Homoki brought him to the Komische Oper Berlin as director of the Jung series. From 2006 to 2010, Schuhmacher was principal director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and a member of the extended management. His debut production of Katja Kabanova in 2004 at the Theater St. Gallen was followed by Otello, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Carmen, La Bohème, Der Freischütz, Der König Kandaules” Infinito Nero, My Fair Lady and Blaubart at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the State Theaters in Augsburg and Mainz, at the Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, the Landestheater Coburg and other theaters in German-speaking countries.

In 2019, Søren Schuhmacher became managing artistic director and deputy general manager for artistic matters at the Staatstheater Darmstadt. From 2020 he will also be casting director for the opera.