Vokalensembles

Hans Köhl

Every year, Hans Köhl creates the concept, programmatic idea and text for the entire musical and staged work. Since his nomination in 1989 as the managing director and subsequently ombudsman of the cooperative society Salzburger Heimatwerk, he has been profoundly familiar with the Salzburg Advent Festival. After the death of its long-time artistic director Tobias Reiser jun. (1946-1999), he took over these responsibilities and thereby the main leadership of the Salzburg Advent Festival.

His artistic passion, combined with his business acumen, became the motor for each new production. Given the heritage and responsibility of this great tradition, he demands the utmost from himself and all those involved in the artistic production. Under his leadership, the Salzburg Advent Festival has touched innumerable people’s hearts and souls over the years, but does not shrink from challenging messages and courageous new perspectives.

Herbert Böck

is chief conductor of the Vienna Jeunesse Orchestra, artistic director of Concentus Vocalis and was appointed professor for choral and ensemble conducting at the Mozarteum University Salzburg in 1995. Originally from Lower Austria, he received his first music education while a soprano soloist with the Vienna Boys’ Choir and then went on to study oboe, conducting, composition and music education at the Vienna Music Academy.

For five years he was principal oboist of the RSO Vienna, and for nine years artistic director of the Wiener Singakademie, a position that included obligatory conducting at the Konzerthaus Vienna. Numerous concert tours have taken him through all of Europe, to Russia, Israel and the USA. For 16 years, Herbert Böck has been the ideal conductor of the Salzburg Advent Festival – he esteems and respects folk music as a musical foundation and loves working with choirs.

Caroline Richards

Originally from England, Caroline Richards has lived in Austria since 1991, having studied English literature at the University of Edinburgh and acting at the Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris.
Some of her stations as an actress include: Salzburger Landestheater, Komödienspiele Porcia, Landestheater Niederösterreich, Stadttheater Mödling, Klagenfurter Ensemble.
As a stage director, she has worked at the Landestheater Niederösterreich, Staatstheater Innsbruck, Carinthischer Sommer, Jeunesse Austria, Musikverein Vienna, with independent theatre companies and at the Schauspielhaus Salzburg.

She is part of the directorate of the Kleines Theater, an independent theatre in Salzburg. She directs the Salzburg-based theatre group Taka-Tuka. She has won awards from the Federal Ministry of Education and the Arts and the Cultural Fund of the City of Salzburg.

Since 2012 the creative director has staged the Salzburg Advent Festival, and together with the lighting specialists Hubert Schwaiger and Thomas Hinterberger, she also ensures the right atmosphere on stage.

Hellmut Hölzl

With his costumes, Hellmut Hölzl has given the Salzburg Advent Festival its unmistakable “corporate design” for many years. The former long-term director of the men’s tailoring workshop at the Salzburg Festival is a master of perfection. Each production requires new costumes, conforming to the current staging concept and, most importantly, emphasising the personality of the actor or actress in question.

The costumes are tailored to the characters of the actors, shepherds’ children and singers, and produced by hand. “This task at the Salzburg Advent Festival is particularly intense, but also interesting, and a great challenge for a classical costume designer,” says Hellmut Hölzl.

Dietmar Solt

For 16 years, the Salzburg-based set designer has created the stage sets for the Salzburg Advent Festival at the Großes Festspielhaus. His international experience contributes to the implementation of the challenges to be met every year anew. Together with his highly motivated team, he creates fascinating spaces and performance venues.

The challenge is to adapt the immensely broad, but not very deep space in front of the iron curtain at the Festspielhaus to the scenes, and to accompany these in a supportive and almost imperceptible way. The new concept of the Salzburg Advent Festival every year requires a new visual interpretation of the stage as well. This year, the Biblical events are complemented with a performance venue of 1946 in Salzburg’s historical city centre. Dietmar Solt is looking forward to this challenge and is sure to create yet another highly characteristic “look” for the Salzburg Advent Festival in 2016.