Intendant, Theater an der Wien
Roland Geyer was born in Vienna on 29 December 1952 and studied mathematical economics at the Technical University, sports science at the University, and cultural management at the University of Music in Vienna. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Geyer worked for five years as an IT analyst at a computer firm and as an IT instructor at the Economic Promotion Institute Vienna.
In 1983 he founded the Amstetten Summer Festival, from 1987 to 1996 he led the Jeunesse Musicale, and subsequently became Director of Wiener KlangBogen and OsterKlang Festival. In 1998 he took over the position of Music Intendant of Vienna and became responsible for annually 70 concerts and musical theatre productions. From 2006 he has been Intendant of Theater an der Wien, since then newly established as an opera house. This institution gained a significant position in the musical landscape of the nation’s capital Vienna by its emphasis on Baroque and contemporary musical theatre, by its presentation of international co-productions, as well as by the integration of the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra as opera orchestras. In 1995 Geyer was honoured by the French Ministry of Culture with the ‘Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ in recognition of his service for French music in Vienna. In 2002 he received the Austrian Honorary Cross for Science and Art, and in 2009 the Silver Medal for Services to the Province of Vienna.
In 2014, Josef Ostermayer, Austrian Minister of Culture, conferred the title of ‘Professor’ on Roland Geyer.
Photo (c) Johannes Ifkovits