Kunsthuis Opera Vlaanderen Royal Ballet Flanders Brings In New Artistic Director

By David Salazar

From dramaturg to Artistic Director. That is what the future holds for Jan Vandenhouwe as he moves from the Ruhr Triennale to the Kunsthuis Opera Vlaanderen Royal Ballet Flanders.

The 38-year-old will kick off his new position in 2019-20 and will succeed Aviel Kahn, who is headed to Geneva.

“I look forward to making the heart pound full of passion with all teams within the Kunsthaus,” he stated according to Focus.Knack.be.

Vandenhouwe became enamored with opera at a young age after witnessing a performance of Wagner’s final masterwork “Parsifal.” He went on to study musicology at universities in Leuven and Antwerp. He then worked as a opera critic and personal assistant to Gerard Mortier of the Opéra National de Paris before becoming artistic coordinator at the Concertgebouw in Bruges.

“His impressive record reads like a Who’s Who at the top of the international art world. Along with him, Sidi Larbi Cherkaouiand, the new CEO of Bart Van der Roost, will create another solid pillar on which will help us further develop Arthouse into the artistic beacon in Flanders,” said the Chairman of the Board André Gantman.

It’s been quite a week of switcheroos with Zürich also finding a new head of opera in Michael Fichtenholz after Sophia de Lint left for the Dutch National Opera.

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