Salzburg Festival set to name Peter de Caluwe as director

The Salzburg Festival is set to present Belgian theatre manager Peter de Caluwe as its new director from 2027, ORF reported. He will succeed interim director Karin Bergmann.

The festival’s board of trustees will formally announce the decision at a press conference on Friday morning. De Caluwe led the La Monnaie De Munt opera house in Brussels from 2007 to 2025 and will take over the Salzburg post alone.

Details including contract terms, future drama leadership and the position of commercial director Lukas Crepaz could still bring surprises. It remains unclear whether Crepaz will seek an extension when the position is advertised again in the autumn.

Crepaz is considered a key figure in the planned renovation of the festival theatres, which is expected to cost around 400 million euros. Reports that he would withdraw from Salzburg next March have not been officially confirmed.

In recent days, the Dutch musician and Amsterdam opera director Sophie de Lint and Australian director Barrie Kosky had been considered leading candidates for a joint leadership. The Austrian Press Agency reported that talks with them broke down on Tuesday evening over disagreements about contracts and the division of responsibilities.

De Caluwe, who was born in 1963, had previously applied to lead the Salzburg Festival and was among the final candidates in 2013. Markus Hinterhäuser was appointed at that time.