The selection process for a new General Manager of Bayreuth Festival has been completed: “Dr. Matthias Rädel is to become General Manager of Bayreuth Festival”, Bavaria’s Minister of Art Markus Blume and State Minister for Culture Dr. Wolfram Weimer announced following the meeting of the Administrative Board of Bayreuth Festival. The decision to propose Dr. Matthias Rädel to the shareholders’ meeting as the future General Manager was unanimous and followed the proposal of a selection committee in coordination with the festival director Prof. Katharina Wagner. Dr. Matthias Rädel has been Deputy Managing Director and Chief Controller at the Deutsche Oper Berlin since 2006.
Bavaria’s Minister of Art Markus Blume emphasized with regard to the decision the great expertise that Rädel brings with him: “The move from Berlin to Bayreuth is a great gain for Bayreuth Festival: Dr. Rädel is a distinguished theater manager with extensive and long-standing experience in the business management area, combined with a strong content-related and artistic interest.”
State Minister for Culture Dr. Wolfram Weimer: “Dr. Rädel is the right choice for Bayreuth. Through his previous activities in the administration of important theaters, he has extensive and diverse skills. He has also already successfully accompanied necessary transformation processes. I am convinced that Dr. Rädel will meet the current challenges and thus lead Bayreuth Festival safely into the future.”
Festival director Prof. Katharina Wagner: “Dr. Matthias Rädel is an extraordinary personality in cultural management. Since 1999, he has shaped the Deutsche Oper Berlin in a significant way – initially as Head of Controlling, today also as Deputy Managing Director. In this dual role, Dr. Rädel combines economic precision with a deep understanding of the complex challenges of an internationally important opera house. He embodies in a special way the connection between theory and practice, between management and culture, between administrative responsibility and intellectual aspiration. His work is characterized by integrity, strategic thinking, strong communication skills and a clear foundation of values. Both inside and outside the house, he is regarded as a reliable and valued partner – for artists as well as for colleagues in administration and cultural policy.”
Now the contract negotiations are pending, with which the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, State Minister a.D. Dr. Georg von Waldenfels, has been entrusted. “With the new General Manager Dr. Rädel, the artistic director Prof. Wagner will have a highly qualified expert at her side”, according to von Waldenfels.
The appointment as General Manager is subject to the successful completion of the contract negotiations and the approval of the shareholders of Bayreuth Festival.