Sebastian Baumgarten

© Sebastian Hoppe

Sebastian Baumgarten was born on 31 January 1969 in East Berlin. His mother was a singer, his father a doctor, his grandfather artistic director of the Staatsoper unter den Linden. Three years after starting school, he transferred to the Georg Friedrich Händel Grammar School, which specialised in musical education. In 1989, after completing his Abitur (school-leaving certificate giving right of entry to university) and military service in the National People’s Army, he began a course in directing at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music.

From 1990 on, Baumgarten was employed as an assistant to Ruth Berghaus, Einar Schleef and Robert Wilson. He worked at theatres in various cities, including Hamburg, Vienna, Berlin and Zurich, and started directing plays on his own account in 1992. From 1999 to 2002, he was senior director of drama and deputy director of opera at the Staatstheater Kassel. From 2003 to 2005, he was director-in-chief of the opera and theatre companies at Theater Meiningen. In 2002, Sebastian Baumgarten was awarded the Götz Friedrich Prize for his production of Puccini’s Tosca at the Staatstheater Kassel. In 2006, he was named Opera Director of the Year.