Eberhard Friedrich has resigned from his position as Chorus Director.

The chorus director, who has been at the helm of the chorus since 2000, presented his resignation days before the festival ended and a year before his contract ended in 2025.

According to reports, Friedrich was upset at the reduced chorus which saw 134 chorus members reduced to 115 of which 80 are full-time. Friedrich served as the chorus director at the Bayreuth Festival for 25 years.

Over the past four years, the administrative board in response to an economic plan proposed by the management has made significant cuts to its budget including the chorus. The Association of German Opera and Dance Ensembles voiced fears of “mass layoffs” but the festival referred to this as a ‘restructuring’ of the festival chorus. According to the festival the cuts were due to “significant cost increases” affecting all opera houses, including high energy costs, expensive materials, and increased personnel costs due to high salary agreements in the public sector.