Artistic Directorship
Anna Sushon // Artistic Director
Anna Sushon is an internationally active conductor, répétiteur, and director of studies whose work has been characterized by curiosity, precision, and musical sensitivity for many years. Born in Novosibirsk, Russia, she first received a thorough education in piano and music history at the local Licee before emigrating in 1991 to continue her conducting studies in Israel. She gained experience as a choir director at an early age and participated in world premieres by young composers, which led her to discover and deepen her passion for contemporary music.
Anna Sushon has lived in Vienna since 1996, where she completed her studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts. Since 1998, she has been working as a freelance répétiteur and study director, including at the Neue Oper Wien. During this time, she established herself as a conductor and musical assistant and participated in more than 150 productions in German-speaking and European countries. Engagements have taken her to the Vienna State Opera, the MusikTheater an der Wien, the Vienna Chamber Opera, the Bregenz Festival, Grafenegg, the Carinthian Summer, the Vienna Festival, and the Vienna Musikverein, among others. As a song accompanist, she has performed in cities such as Madrid, Jerusalem, New York, Moscow, Berlin, and Tel Aviv, in addition to Vienna. She has conducted concerts in the USA and Israel and opera performances in Vienna, Erfurt, Salzburg, Zagreb, and Stockholm. Her repertoire includes works from all stylistic periods, from classical operas to contemporary new productions. Her work is always characterized by a keen sense of musical detail and stage dynamics.
In addition to her practical work, Anna Sushon is committed to training young singers. As a senior artist in the master’s program in Performance Practice in Contemporary Music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, she guides students in the interpretation of new works and passes on her experience and passion for contemporary music. Her work is characterized by musicality, precision, and the ability to empower musicians in their individual voices.
Alexander Kaimbacher // Commercial Management
Alexander Kaimbacher is one of the most distinguished Austrian tenors of his generation. Born in Villach, he combined singing, acting, theater studies, and musicology in his early education in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the connection between voice, role, and text. His debut at the Neue Oper Wien in 1999 marked the beginning of a versatile career that has taken him to many of Europe’s most important stages as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.
His interpretations are characterized by precision, expressiveness, and a sensitive understanding of text and music. His repertoire ranges from classical roles to 20th-century operas and world premieres of contemporary works. As a member of the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera, he has appeared in numerous major productions and performed central roles in opera, operetta, and concert literature—from Mozart roles such as Tamino (The Magic Flute) to character roles in Berg’s Wozzeck to complex contemporary roles. Internationally, engagements have taken him to the Zurich Opera House, the Bregenz Festival, the Komische Oper Berlin, and guest performances in Hamburg, Cologne, and Paris. His interpretation of Aschenbach in Britten’s Death in Venice and his portrayal of Job in Lang’s opera of the same name, which won the Austrian Music Theater Prize in 2024, were particularly acclaimed.
In addition to his stage work, Kaimbacher is also active as a teacher. He teaches at the Vienna State Opera’s opera school and is a professor of singing at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz. Since 2026, he has co-directed the Neue Oper Wien with Anna Sushon. With his experience, his keen sense for new music, and his commitment to artistic development, he contributes to the further development of the institution and strengthens the place of contemporary opera in Vienna.
