Barrie Kosky (b. 1967), theatre and opera director, directed his first play as a student at Melbourne Grammar School in the early 1980s. He studied Piano and Music History at the University of Melbourne, and then established the Gilgul Theatre Company, which he described as 'Australia’s first professional alternative Jewish theatre company'. Never shy of pushing creative boundaries or breaking opera tradition, he has directed over 40 operas for companies throughout Europe and Australia including Molière's Tartuffe for the Sydney Theatre Company, Alban Berg's Wozzeck for the Sydney Opera House, Saul for Glyndebourne Festival, Carmen for the Frankfurt Opera, and Macbeth for the Zurich Opera House. He won the Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production for Castor and Pollux in 2012, and his many other accolades include being named Best Director at the 2014 International Opera Awards, and the Opernwelt opera director of the year award for 2016. From 2001 to 2005 he was co-director of the Vienna Schauspielhaus, and in 2012 he was appointed the 'Intendant and Chefregisseur' of the Komische Oper Berlin. In 2017, his staging of Handel's Saul opened the Adelaide Festival, and he became the first Australian to direct a Wagner production at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany.
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