Willy Decker
Born in Cologne, he studied philosophy, theatre studies, musicology and vocal studies in his native city. He began as an assistant director in Essen and at the Cologne Opera, where he soon became senior resident director. His first individual opera productions already attracted international attention at the end of the 70s. Through numerous productions at all the great opera houses in Germany and abroad – including Elektra in Amsterdam, La Traviata at the Salzburger Festspiele, Lulu at the Vienna StateOpera and the world premiere of Aribert Reimann’s Das Schloss at the Deutsche Oper Berlin – he became one of Europe’s leading directors. In 2001 he received the order Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres for his services to cultural life in France. Since 2005 he has been honorary professor for music theatre direction at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. In 2007 Willy Decker directed Le vin herbé by Frank Martin for the Ruhrtriennale. Following this great success he was asked to take over the artistic directorship of the Ruhrtriennale 2009-2011, which he opened with a brilliant and world-renowned production of Arnold Schönberg’s Moses und Aron.
