The Young Artist program of the Vienna State Opera

Bogdan Roščić, Direktor Wiener Staatsoper:

»A repertory house like the Wiener Staatsoper cannot operate successfully without an excellent vocal ensemble. As both Philippe and I see it, this ensemble must be supplemented by a studio for young artists who can become a very real part of the theatre and keep renewing the ensemble from within. A program like this not only enables the theatre to establish an early and intensive relationship with the world's best talents of the next generation, but it also challenges the house to deal with fundamental questions of quality, tradition and the all-round education of singing actors. The Wiener Staatsoper offers participants ideal conditions, not only because of its artistic standing but also because of the wide range of repertoire presented. I am confident that our program will quickly become one of the most important in the world and will bear spectacular fruit very soon.«

Philippe Jordan, Musikdirektor Wiener Staatsoper:

»For me, working with young singers always was and is a great responsibility and an inspiring challenge. On the one hand it's a matter of passing on your own experience and being a musical mentor, on the other hand you benefit from the freshness and youthful curiosity of new perspectives. I'm convinced that we will discover and promote a new generation in the Young Artist Program of the Wiener Staatsoper which will shape opera life in the city and help mold the opera world of the future.«

Michael Kraus, Leitung Opernstudio: 

»I am very grateful for the trust Bogdan Roscic and Philippe Jordan have placed in me in letting me work with an international group of coaches and mentors to pass on our combined experience to the next generation of singers. The Young Artist Program of the Wiener Staatsoper will enable the best young singers to launch their professional career at one of the world's most important opera houses.«

Michael Kraus →  Artistic director

Michael Kraus was born in Vienna. He studied at the conservatories of Vienna and Munich. After engagements in Aachen and Ulm, as well as at the Vienna Volksoper, a busy international guest career developed, which has taken Michael Kraus to many stages, including the opera houses of Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna, Teatro alla Scala, the Royal Opera House London, Opéra Bastille Paris and the opera houses of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Helsinki, Palermo, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Turin and Zurich. Other guest appearances, including recitals and concerts (e.g. at the Salzburg and Bregenz Festivals, the Schubertiade Feldkirch, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Baden-Baden Festival), have taken Michael Kraus to France, Italy, Spain, England, Hungary, Sweden, Greece, Portugal, Israel, Brazil, Chile, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Japan. Michael Kraus' repertoire covers a broad spectrum from Mozart (Don Giovanni and Leporello, Conte, Gugliemo and Don Alfonso, Papageno and Sprecher) to the French and Italian repertoire (Valentin, Lescaut, Conte di Luna, Don Carlos di Vargas, Iago, Marcello, Sharpless), to Strauss (Faninal, Orest, Musiklehrer) and Wagner (Beckmesser, Kothner, Alberich, Heerrufer), from baroque (Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea) to modern (among others. Stolzius in Die Soldaten by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, among others, as well as numerous world premieres). Michael Kraus has also appeared in operettas and musicals (Eisenstein, Danilo, Sweeney Todd). Since the 2020/21 season, Michael Kraus has been artistic director of the Young Artist Program of the Vienna State Opera. In 2022/23 he will be heard at the Opéra Bastille Paris and the Royal Opera House London, among others.

Mag. Uta Sander, MAS  →  Management

Uta Sander pursues a dual career as a pianist and arts manager. In 2020 she was appointed Manager of the newly founded Opera Studio of the Vienna State Opera, a program that finds, promotes and prepares the best young international opera talent for the stage profession. As a dedicated manager and artist, the promotion of young musical talent is particularly important to her. Previously, in her role as Head of Digital Marketing, Uta Sander was responsible for setting up and developing the digital strategy of the Vienna State Opera and thus made a significant contribution to the digital opening of the opera house. 

Before joining the Vienna State Opera in 2012, Uta Sander worked for the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Bregenz Festival, the Wilhelm Kempff Cultural Foundation, ORF Radio Österreich 1, the Herbert von Karajan Centrum Vienna and the Austrian Federal Theatres Holding and can look back at 25 years of achievements and experience in this field.

Her performance career as a pianist and Lied accompanist has taken her all over Europe and to South America. A number of her CDs have been awarded international prizes, such as “Die Schöne Müllerin” (with her husband, baritone Klemens Sander) and “Das Lyrische Intermezzo” (with Klemens Sander and actor Cornelius Obonya). 

Uta Sander completed a master's degree in arts management at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and received her artistic diploma as a pianist and Lied accompanist with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Rolf Plagge and Hartmut Höll at the Mozarteum Salzburg.