International competition
for stage direction and design
in musical theatre in Graz/Styria

NEWS – RING AWARD

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This was RING AWARD 20/21

A video documentation: [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNf-HOL5Pf4&feature=youtu.be[/embed] Three unique, innovative productions of “Don Giovanni” were presented at Schauspielhaus Graz, Austria, in front of the renowned jury and live audiences as well as streaming audiences from all over the world. The main prize „RING AWARD“ which includes a stage production with stage…

25 years RING AWARD – a video documentation

In this short video documentation by Britta Lang, founder and intendant of the RING AWARD, Heinz Weyringer, invites you on a journey through 25 exciting years of the award: [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiXxhQFiaYM[/embed]

And the winner is…

…„Don Giovanni. The Reckoning“ Team Anika Rutkofsky (DE) / Eleni Konstantatou (GR) / Johanna Danhauser (DE) The RING AWARD Final is over, three unique, innovative productions of "Don Giovanni" were presented this weekend at Schauspielhaus Graz, Austria, in front of the renowned jury and audience. For the…

Live Stream of the RING AWARD Final

Thanks to OperaVision, we were able to offer the final weekend via online live stream for the first time! For all those who could not make it to the Schauspielhaus Graz or who simply want to enjoy innovative musical theater from the comfort of their own home, the…

We would like to thank

our wonderful sponsors and partners without whom this competition could not exist! Our main sponsors Province of Styria, Culture, Europe, International Relations City of Graz Our cooperation partners Oper Graz Schauspielhaus Graz Next Liberty art + event / Theaterservice Graz Kunstuniversität Graz Our sponsors Energie Steiermark Richard-Wagner-Verband International…

RING AWARD Finale on June 26 & 27, 2021

GET IN THE RING – Round 3 - Competition Final On June 26 & 27 2021, the competition final of the 9th International Competition for Stage Direction and Design in Musical Theatre in Graz/Austria will take place. For the first time it will be streamed LIVE via OperaVision.…

Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes of our competition, work is already in full swing! On 1 May, the teams handed in their piano scores, i.e. the adapted versions of act 2 of "Don Giovanni". Singing teams of Oper Graz, Theater an der Wien (JET) and Deutsche Oper Berlin are now…

Season’s Greetings

The RING AWARD wishes you happy holidays and is looking forward to seeing you at our RA20 competition final on June 26 & 27, 2021 at Schauspielhaus Graz!

New Date for Final

Message from the RING AWARD Intendant: Unusual times ask for unusual measures - therefore our competition final will take place one year later than originally planned, on 26 & 27 June 2021. The RING AWARD Final means 3 premieres in 24 hours on the main stage of Schauspielhaus…

Competition Final postponed

Dear friends of the RING AWARD, Due to the measures taken on 6 April 2020 by the Austrian government to avoid the spread of Covid-19, which include a ban of all cultural events until the end of June 2020, the RING AWARD Final, originally scheduled for 27 &…

This was the RING AWARD 20 Semifinal

9 teams from 11 nations presented their versions of our competition opera W.A. Mozart's "Don Giovanni" on 11 January 2020 at Next Liberty in Graz/Austria. Here you can see a short video including excerpts of the presentations by the teams, views of the set design models, the jury and…

RING AWARD 20 Final

Dear friends of the RING AWARD, Due to Covid-19 a lot of cultural events have been cancelled or postponed. Currently (as of 16 March 2020) we expect the RING AWARD Final on June 27 & 28, 2020 in Graz to take place as planned. However, we of course…

Let us introduce the Final Teams

The 3 Final-Teams of the RING AWARD 20 are: (in alphabetical order) Team Alicia Geugelin (DEU) / Christin Schumann (DEU) / Pia Preuß (DEU) / Elise Schobeß (DEU) Team Krystian Lada (POL) / Didzis Jaunzems (LVA) / Natalia Kitamikado (POL) Team Anika Rutkofsky (DEU) / Eleni Konstantatou (GRC)…

RING AWARD 20 Semifinal on January 11, 2020

GET IN THE RING – the countdown has started for the semifinal of the RING AWARD 20! A record number of 126 teams with 326 participants from 32 nations followed our call and submitted their stage direction and stage design concepts for the competition opera “Don Giovanni”. In ROUND…

“Don Giovanni” at Theater Bremen

Huge success for Tatjana Gürbaca – finalist of the RING AWARD 2000 – with her "Don Giovanni" at Theater Bremen (premiered on October 20, 2019). An idiosyncratic, well thought out, complex production with intense personal direction. More exciting interpretations of the “opera of all operas” can be experienced at…

“Guillaume Tell” at Operá de Lyon

Enthusiastic audiences and raving reviews for the new production of Gioachino Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell” by RING AWARD 08 winners Tobias Kratzer and Rainer Sellmaier. Premiere was on 5 October 2019 at Operá de Lyon (in co-production with Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe). A haunting parable about culture and barbarism. Director Tobias…

Let us introduce the Semifinal Teams

GET IN THE RING – a record number of 126 teams with 326 participants from 32 nations followed our call and submitted their stage direction and stage design concepts for the competition opera “Don Giovanni” by 19 August 2019. In ROUND 1 the RING AWARD jury travelled to Graz…

Submission Deadline!

Midnight on 19 August 2019 marked the submission deadline for the RING AWARD 20 competition! We are happy to announce that we have reached a record number of submissions. The RING AWARD Team is currently screening the submissions for formal eligibility and preparing the 1st Round of the…

The Countdown has started!

Monday 19 August, 2019 marks the submission deadline for the RING AWARD 20! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jzvzJMoi0s&feature=youtu.be All submission have to reach Graz by 4 September 2019 at the very latest. After the deadline, Round 1 starts and the jury will nominate 9 semifinal-teams. Round 2 is the semifinal where the teams…

RING AWARD 17 winners will stage the “Ring” in Bayreuth

The young generation takes over Bayreuth: RING AWARD 17 winners director Valentin Schwarz and set designer Andrea Cozzi will stage Richard Wagner’s tetralogy "The Ring of the Nibelung" in 2020. Katharina Wagner, artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival, announced this at a press conference on July 24. Schwarz…

Tobias Kratzer’s “Tannhäuser” opens Bayreuth Festival

On July 25, 2019 Tobias Kratzer’s (RING AWARD 08) ground-breaking new production of "Tannhäuser" with stage design by Rainer Sellmaier (RING AWARD 08) opened the Bayreuth Festival to boisterous applause and literally conquered the “green hill”. "The opening premiere holds a cheerful and profound mirror up to the…

Barbora Horáková Joly directs at Theater an der Wien

On February 26, 2019 the Chamber Opera of Theater an der Wien showed the premiere of Barbora Horáková Joly’s production of "L’ enfant et les sortilèges / Olympia", a successful combination of Maurice Ravel‘s "L'enfant et les sortilèges" and one act of Jacques Offenbach’s "The Tales of Hoffmann".…

First RING AWARD winners stage “King Roger” at Oper Graz

The first ever RING AWARD winners from 1997, director Holger Müller-Brandes and stage designer Katrin Lea Tag, returned to Graz to stage the first production of Karol Szymanowski’s "King Roger" at Oper Graz. They showed a compelling psychological interpretation of this rarely staged opera with strong mystical images.…

“Don Pasquale” in Montpellier

On February 20, 2019 the winning production of RING AWARD 17, "Don Pasquale" directed by Valentin Schwarz with a set design by Andrea Cozzi, was put on stage in full length at Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier. It is a co-production with Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, where it will be…

RING AWARD winner and finalist nominated for International Opera Awards 2019

Nominated for the International Opera Awards 2019 in the category "Designer" are RING AWARD 1997 winner Katrin Lea Tag and RING AWARD 2005 finalist Leslie Travers! Numerous opera houses of our illustious RING AWARD 20 jury members such as Theater an der Wien, Opéra de Lyon, Semperoper Dresden, Dutch National Opera,…

RING AWARD 20 – what’s new?

...the jury: The RING AWARD 20 Jury now consists of 20 opera and theatre directors as well as renowned musical theatre professionals from all over Europe (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands) who will judge the participating teams in all three rounds of the…

Competition Opera: DON GIOVANNI

The RING AWARD 20 is now open for entries! The Competition Opera of RING AWARD 20: DON GIOVANNI by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozarts seminal work “Don Giovanni” is often considered his best work. The “dramma giocoso” combines comedy and tragedy, murder ballad and swashbuckler play, and is as…

Tobias Kratzer wins DER FAUST 2018

"Der Faust" Theatre Prize 2018 in the category "Best Director in Musical Theatre" went to RING AWARD 08 winner Tobias Kratzer for his production of Richard Wagner's "Götterdämmerung" ("Twilight of the Gods") at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. "Der Faust" honours artists who do ground-breaking work for German theatre. From…

Kick-off RING AWARD 20

On 21 November 2018 the RING AWARD 20 will officially open with the announcement of the competition opera and jury. Submission deadline is 19 August 2019. Find more information on registration and submission HERE.

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