Neil Barry Moss was born in South Africa and studied opera, music and theatre studies in Cape Town. In 2015, he graduated in directing and dramaturgy in Verona, Italy. In the same year, he made his debut as a director with Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) at the Teatro Rossini in Pesaro. From 2016 to 2019, he was engaged as an assistant director, director and costume designer at the Hanover State Opera. In June 2018, Moss won second prize at the 10th European Opera Directing Prize EOP in Zurich. From 2019 to 2023, he was artistic director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he made his house debut in 2020 with the award-winning and highly acclaimed production Das Rheingold auf dem Parkdeck (Das Rheingold on the Parking Deck). In 2022, he staged Hector Berlioz's La damnation de Faust (The Damnation of Faust) for the Landestheater Coburg in Coburg's Morizkirche.

In the 2023/24 season, he became opera director and part of the board of directors at the Landestheater Coburg, with which he opened the GLOBE COBURG in October 2023, attracting attention throughout Germany. Here he staged the operas Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi and Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck, for which he also designed the costumes. He sees the theatre as a space for new experiences, encounters and lively dialogue, which should invite everyone and help shape society. As a stage and costume designer, he works with grand illusions, colourful accents and humorous details. Even as part of the board of directors at the Landestheater Coburg, meeting and interacting with local people was a top priority for him.

Neil Barry Moss has been artistic director of the Landestheater Coburg since September 2024. In the 2024/25 season, he is staging Il trittico by Giacomo Puccini, Der fliegende Holländer by Richard Wagner and the hit musical Chicago by John Kander and Fred Ebb. At the Dortmund Opera, he is responsible for staging the world premiere of Brünnhilde brennt, which is being produced in collaboration with the Bayreuth Festival in 2026 and will celebrate its Dortmund premiere in 2027.