(Photo Credit: Jan Reiser)

The supervisory board of Theater und Philharmonie Essen has appointed Julien Chavaz as the new Intendant of the Aalto Musiktheater and the Essener Philharmoniker, effective for the 2028-29 season.

Chavaz, currently Generalintendant of Theater Magdeburg, will lead both divisions through summer 2033.

The appointment follows the April announcement of Peter Theiler as interim Intendant for the 2027-28 season, giving the supervisory board a long term artistic plan in place before the summer break.

“I am very happy about the decision and very grateful for the trust of the search committee, the supervisory board, the mayor, and the TUP managing director. I am really looking forward to making music theater and music here. It will be a very exciting change for me, moving from Magdeburg in the east to Essen in the Ruhr area. This city fascinates me, and I am eager to get to know it even better. And I am very much looking forward to meeting everyone here with whom I will be making theater in the coming years,” Chavaz said, per an official press release.

Born in Bern, Chavaz has served as Generalintendant of Theater Magdeburg since the 2022-23 season. Under his leadership, the house was named “Theater of the Year” in 2025 and received the German Theater Prize DER FAUST the same year for its work in new music theater. He previously served as Intendant of the Neue Oper Freiburg in Switzerland from 2018 to 2022, and studied agricultural sciences in Zurich and dramaturgy in Lausanne before working as an assistant director at the Opéra de Paris, the Opéra de Lyon, and De Nationale Opera Amsterdam.