Career: Orchestra Conductor, Opera Director and Producer
Interests: Literature, Philosophy, Cinema, Sports
Hometown: * South Germany, based in Berlin; temp. Vermont, USA&Ecuador

Opera director Christoph Hagel is known for his modern adaptations of classical operas, his mixing of genres and performances in unusual venues. Former performances include Mozart’s The Magic Flute in an underground station, Cos fan Tutte at a former electrical substation and techno club as well as Flying Bach at the Neue Nationalgalerie.

His latest project is the Berlin premiere of Mozarts 1791 opera Titus at the Bode Museum. The tragic triangle of love and death is Hagel’s third opera staging at the Bode Museum. The three main characters are interpreted simultaneously by a singer and an actor respectivley, and spoken theatre scenes are added. Solo dancer Martin Buczko from the Staatsballett Berlin ensemble dances the part of Sesto. The music is provided by the Berlin Symphoniker.

Beside his Berlin events he conducts several south American symphonic orchestras and is engaged in musical education projects in different South American towns. Starting 2010 he is the director of the opera singing program at Middelbury College in Vermont/USA.
In September 2010 Christoph received the ECHO Klassik award in the category “Special Award of the Jury”.

Articles / Links / Videos:

Video: Deutsche Welle: Mozart in unusual settings (Cosi fan Tutte, 11/2009)
Video: Arte (in German): Mozart (Titus, 10/2010)
Video: ITN News: New platform for experimental opera (The Magic Flute, 04/2008)
Video: Deutsche Welle: Mozart in unusual settings (Cosi fan Tutte, 11/2009)
Photos: The Economist / Intelligent Life: “The Magic Flute” (07/2008)
www.tocc-concept.de

Career: Orchestral Conducter, Maestro, Leadership Coach
Interests: Art (from ancient to contemporary), Haiku Poetry and Literature in general, People – in particular, how we exchange important messages …
Hometowns: Tel-Aviv, Israel; Amsterdam, Netherlands; temp. Transsilvania, Romania

Itay Talgam is one of the leading figures in the Israeli music scene. He is a champion of contemporary music, and in particular music of contemporary Israeli composers. He is internationally renowned for developing the ‘Maestro program’, that explores the relationship between conductor, musician and audience to achieve inspiring new insights into leadership, management, and team work. Using a range of innovative techniques, these energetic and thought-provoking programmes challenge standard thinking and offer participants a fresh perspective on a range of organisational issues and work styles.

More:
www.talgam.com
Wikipedia: Itay Talgam
Twitter: @itaytalgam

Other articles/links/videos:
Video: TEDtalks – Itay Talgam at TED (10/2009; 23 min.)
Video: Itay Talgam – Zeitgeist Europe 2009 (11/2010; 31min.)
Conducting Collaborative Creativity: Understanding collaboration through the lens of Itay Talgam and a collection of the worlds foremost conductors (02/09)
Video: Itay Talgam at PICNIC08 – Conducting Creativity (2009)