The Mortier Award for music theatre and the Mortier Next Generation Award were established to draw inspiration for music theatre’s present and future from the legacy of Gerard Mortier, the opera and festival administrator and former artistic director of the Salzburg Festival, who died in 2014. The award honours figures who, like Mortier, pursue an interdisciplinary approach to renewing the art form of opera. – It is therefore fitting that the polymath Alexander Kluge will be presented with the 2021 Mortier Award. The Next Generation Award goes to the German stage director Ulrike Schwab and is sponsored by the Friends of the Salzburg Festival. On the occasion of its centenary, the Salzburg Festival and the ‘Friends’ Association are honouring the two laureates in a ceremony. Following this event, artistic director Markus Hinterhäuser will host a discussion about the future outlook for music theatre with Asmik Grigorian, Ulrike Schwab and Franz Welser-Möst.

Registration required at www.festspielfreunde.at