Waldmeister
Music Theatre
25. Apr - 28. Apr 2025
CalendarProgrammePodcast
DE
Tickets for Cagliostro
CalendarProgramme
Josef E. Köpplinger was born in Lower Austria. He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and attended seminars in New York and London.
He received his first permanent engagement from Marietheres List at the Städtische Bühnen Regensburg. His directing career has taken him from Vienna through Germany, to Switzerland, France, Italy, England, the United States, and Japan. His repertoire covers all genres, from plays to opera, operetta, and musicals. For the Musical Festival at Schloss Prugg/Lower Austria, he was appointed Austria’s youngest artistic director. From 2004 to 2007, he was director of drama at the Theater in St. Gallen. In 2005, he founded the playwriting competition St. Galler Autorentage and also established the St. Gallen Festival. From 2007 to 2012, Josef E. Köpplinger was artistic director of the Theater Klagenfurt, where he founded the MUT competition for musical theatre in 2009 and directed the premieres of Peter Turrini’s Silvester and the rediscovered Cherubini opera Koukourgi, which was broadcast live on 3sat.
In addition to his international guest teaching activities, his productions in opera, drama, and musicals – some award-winning – have been seen at venues such as the Oper Graz, Kammerspiele Berlin, Volkstheater Wien, Opéra national du Rhin Strasbourg, Aalto-Theater Essen, Hamburg State Opera, Theater in der Josefstadt Wien, Volksoper Wien, Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Vienna State Opera, Staatstheater Nürnberg, Oper Bonn, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Semperoper Dresden.
Since the 2012/2013 season, Josef E. Köpplinger has been the artistic director of the Gärtnerplatztheater, where he has directed productions such as Im weißen Rössl, Anything Goes, the premiere of Friedrich Cerha’s opera Onkel Präsident, Der Mann von La Mancha, the continental premiere of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Die Zirkusprinzessin, Cinderella, the musical premiere Gefährliche Liebschaften by Marc Schubring and Wolfgang Adenberg, Singin’ in the Rain, Das Lächeln einer Sommernacht, Viktoria und ihr Husar, the premiere of Johanna Doderer’s opera Liliom (for which he also wrote the libretto), Die Faschingsfee, Jesus Christ Superstar, Die lustige Witwe, My Fair Lady, the operetta premiere Drei Männer im Schnee by Thomas Pigor, On the Town, Non(n)sens, the premiere of Johanna Doderer and Peter Turrini’s opera Schuberts Reise nach Atzenbrugg, Der Barbier von Sevilla, Mozart muss sterben, Die Fledermaus, Die Großherzogin von Gerolstein, Figaros Hochzeit, and Die Zauberflöte.
In 2012, he received the AZ-Stern des Jahres from the Munich press and, together with his team, the tz-Rosenstrauß. In 2013, he was awarded the Kulturpreis Bayern. A second AZ-Stern des Jahres followed in 2014 for his production of Die Zirkusprinzessin. In 2018, he received the Kulturpreis der Bayerischen Landesstiftung. In 2019, Josef E. Köpplinger was awarded the Deutscher Musical Theater Preis for his production of the premiere Drei Männer im Schnee. In 2020, he received the Orpheus-Nadel for special services to the genre of operetta, and in 2024, a third AZ-Stern des Jahres for his production of Die Zauberflöte. Also in 2024, he was awarded the Bayerischer Verfassungsorden and the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class.
Josef E. Köpplinger was born in Lower Austria. He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and attended seminars in New York and London.
He received his first permanent engagement from Marietheres List at the Städtische Bühnen Regensburg. His directing career has taken him from Vienna through Germany, to Switzerland, France, Italy, England, the United States, and Japan. His repertoire covers all genres, from plays to opera, operetta, and musicals. For the Musical Festival at Schloss Prugg/Lower Austria, he was appointed Austria’s youngest artistic director. From 2004 to 2007, he was director of drama at the Theater in St. Gallen. In 2005, he founded the playwriting competition St. Galler Autorentage and also established the St. Gallen Festival. From 2007 to 2012, Josef E. Köpplinger was artistic director of the Theater Klagenfurt, where he founded the MUT competition for musical theatre in 2009 and directed the premieres of Peter Turrini’s Silvester and the rediscovered Cherubini opera Koukourgi, which was broadcast live on 3sat.
In addition to his international guest teaching activities, his productions in opera, drama, and musicals – some award-winning – have been seen at venues such as the Oper Graz, Kammerspiele Berlin, Volkstheater Wien, Opéra national du Rhin Strasbourg, Aalto-Theater Essen, Hamburg State Opera, Theater in der Josefstadt Wien, Volksoper Wien, Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Vienna State Opera, Staatstheater Nürnberg, Oper Bonn, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Semperoper Dresden.
Since the 2012/2013 season, Josef E. Köpplinger has been the artistic director of the Gärtnerplatztheater, where he has directed productions such as Im weißen Rössl, Anything Goes, the premiere of Friedrich Cerha’s opera Onkel Präsident, Der Mann von La Mancha, the continental premiere of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Die Zirkusprinzessin, Cinderella, the musical premiere Gefährliche Liebschaften by Marc Schubring and Wolfgang Adenberg, Singin’ in the Rain, Das Lächeln einer Sommernacht, Viktoria und ihr Husar, the premiere of Johanna Doderer’s opera Liliom (for which he also wrote the libretto), Die Faschingsfee, Jesus Christ Superstar, Die lustige Witwe, My Fair Lady, the operetta premiere Drei Männer im Schnee by Thomas Pigor, On the Town, Non(n)sens, the premiere of Johanna Doderer and Peter Turrini’s opera Schuberts Reise nach Atzenbrugg, Der Barbier von Sevilla, Mozart muss sterben, Die Fledermaus, Die Großherzogin von Gerolstein, Figaros Hochzeit, and Die Zauberflöte.
In 2012, he received the AZ-Stern des Jahres from the Munich press and, together with his team, the tz-Rosenstrauß. In 2013, he was awarded the Kulturpreis Bayern. A second AZ-Stern des Jahres followed in 2014 for his production of Die Zirkusprinzessin. In 2018, he received the Kulturpreis der Bayerischen Landesstiftung. In 2019, Josef E. Köpplinger was awarded the Deutscher Musical Theater Preis for his production of the premiere Drei Männer im Schnee. In 2020, he received the Orpheus-Nadel for special services to the genre of operetta, and in 2024, a third AZ-Stern des Jahres for his production of Die Zauberflöte. Also in 2024, he was awarded the Bayerischer Verfassungsorden and the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class.
