The Munich Biennale (German: Münchener Biennale) is a contemporary opera and music theatre festival in the city of Munich. The full German name is Internationales Festival für neues Musiktheater, literally: International Festival for New Music Theater. The biennial festival was created in 1988 by Hans Werner Henze and is held in even-numbered years over 2–3 weeks in the late spring. The festival concentrates on world premieres of theater-related contemporary music, with a particular focus on commissioning first operas from young composers.[1][2]
History
Hans Werner Henze's artistic directorship (1988–1996)
Henze, himself a prolific composer of operas, described the genesis of the festival like this:
The whole story started with a query from the departmental head of the (Munich) cultural office ... whether I ... would be interested in considering creating some sort of civic music festival in Munich. After a period of time I suggested organizing something that had been lacking up until that point, something that also did not exist anywhere else in the world and yet was an urgent necessity – namely, a place where the young generation of composers interested in theatre ... could realize their ideas.[3]
Henze curated the first four festivals, from 1988 to 1994, and established the general format of most of the festivals that followed.[4] Short runs of the premiered operas are preceded by talks and additional concerts from the featured composers, to introduce the audiences to their ideas and music.[5] See also Klangspuren.
Peter Ruzicka's artistic directorship (1996–2014)
Peter Ruzicka took over as artistic director ("one of the most influential administrative/ artistic positions in the European music-theatre scene")[6] in 1996, with that year's biennale being jointly curated by Henze. Ruzicka broadened the scope of the works presented, with more emphasis on works using multimedia, and moving away from the text-based sources that characterised the period curated by Henze.[7]
Manos Tsangaris and Daniel Ott's artistic directorship (2016–2024)
The composers Manos Tsangaris and Daniel Ott took over as joint artistic directors of the Biennale, starting in 2016.[8] Their approach to curation further expanded the festival's remit beyond opera, to reflect an 'expanded composition term' and the 'open field' of new music theatre which spans '[f]rom new opera to scenic installation, from minimalized artistic interventions in municipal spaces to composed performance'.[9]
Katrin Beck and Manuela Kerer's artistic directorship (2026–)
Katrin Beck and Manuela Kerer took over as joint artistic directors of the Biennale, starting in 2026.[10]
^Dinescu's Eréndira was a co-commission with the Staatsoper Stuttgart, where it had its world premiere on 18 March 1992
^Battistelli's Teorema was a co-commission with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, where it had its world premiere in the Teatro Comunale, on 10 May 1992
^ abVir's operas Broken Strings and Snatched by the Gods were a co-commission with De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, where they had their world premieres on 11 May 1992
^ abcTilt, Der Einsturz des Himmels and In Erwartung were presented in a triple bill entitled Amazonas
^Salzman, Desi; p. 222: ".. with one or two notable exceptions, the lively London theatre and music scene has not developed a strong creative music-theatre component. The result is that the Munich Biennale and the film industry have sometimes been better patrons for new British opera and music theatre than local musical institutions".
