Christof Loy Director

Christof Loy was born in Essen, Germany, and studied stage direction for Musical Theater at Arts Folkwang University. He completed his studies in Munich and was assistant to Luc Bondy and Dietrich Hilsdorf, and then made his stage director debut with his own creation called Gretchen, eine mädchentragödie, a “patchwork” musical based on Faust. It was followed by subsequent engagements in various theaters, first in Germany and then abroad.

His first production in Austria was La finta giardiniera, in Klagenfurt in 1996. Christof Loy has worked with many opera houses and festivals. He has a long-standing collaboration with Teatro Real in Madrid, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Theater Basel, Salzburg Festival, and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In 2019, he made his debut as choreographer in Amsterdam, in his own production of Tannhäuser, and then choreographed his productions of Humperdinck’s Königskinder in Amsterdam, the ballet The Miraculous Mandarin in Basel and Orphée et Eurydice for the Salzburg Festival in 2023.

In addition to his work for the opera, Christof Loy enjoys directing freer projects, with a focus on staging programmes of melodies, such as the evening dedicated to Tchaikovsky, “Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt”, at Frankfurt Opera, and “Eine Winterreise” with Anne Sofie von Otter at Theater Basel. In 2021 he pushed the boundaries of his artistic scope with his first feature film, Springtime in Amsterdam, which he directed, but also wrote the screenplay and selected the music.

Future projects include productions in the zarzuela genre, an artform he wants to promote internationally. He will make his debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 2024 and at Teatro de la Zarzuela in 2026.

Paris Opera debut