(Credit: Oper Graz official website)

Oper Graz has announced the appointment of Ulrich Lenz as its new intendant. Lenz will succeed Nora Schmid who will move to the Semperoper Dresden as its new intendant starting 2024-25 season.

Lenz studied musicology, theater studies, and art history in Munich, Berlin, and Milan. He began his theater career during the 1997-98 season as Assistant dramaturg at the Staatsoper Stuttgart and subsequently worked as Opera dramaturg at the Landestheater Linz and Nationaltheater Mannheim.

Lenz was appointed Chief dramaturg at the Staatstheater Hannover in 2006, and Chief dramaturg at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2012. He has collaborated with such theaters as the Aalto Theater Essen, English National Opera, and Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, among others.

“I am very pleased to be able to help in shaping cultural life in such an exciting and creative city as Graz from 2023. I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the selection committee and the representatives of the city and the state. As a result of the excellent work of Nora Schmid and her team, I find the Oper Graz to be a well-positioned opera house. I would like to continue with the balanced and exciting mix in the opera house’s program and enrich it with new contents,” said Lenz of the appointment.

Lenz will take over his new position at the start of the 2023-24 season.