Salzburg Seeks a Business Director for a Festival Under Reconstruction

The Salzburg Festival has advertised its commercial directorship for a five-year term beginning on April 1, 2027. The appointment comes as the institution prepares to operate through a major reconstruction programme, making building works and artistic continuity inseparable parts of the job.

Applications close on November 24. The current contract of Lukas Crepaz expires at the end of March, after ten years in the role. Whether he will seek another term had not been confirmed in the announcement, and the advertisement should not be read as confirmation that a successor has already been chosen.

A central responsibility will be Festspielbezirk 2030, the renovation, renewal and expansion of the festival’s performance buildings while the organisation continues operating. The Grosses Festspielhaus is expected to have restricted availability in 2028 and to be unavailable in 2029 and 2030.

Applicants are therefore asked to present a concept addressing those structural conditions. The challenge extends beyond managing a construction budget: programming, scheduling, audience arrangements and the use of alternative spaces must work together over several seasons.

The commercial director holds one of three seats on the festival directorate, alongside the president and artistic director. The recruitment notice places importance on productive cooperation within that leadership group, reflecting the number of decisions that will cross artistic and administrative responsibilities.

The search also takes place during a wider leadership transition. Peter de Caluwe is due to take over as artistic director after the 2027 festival, bringing a new artistic administration into the period of greatest disruption to the principal hall.

The resulting appointment will be judged not only on ordinary financial management but on how convincingly the festival can maintain its artistic identity through temporary limitations. A five-year term places the successful candidate directly across the construction period and the planning required for its aftermath.