Prof. Andreas Prohaska

Prof. Andreas Prohaska was born in Salzburg. He took violin lessons with Professor Assmann in Frankfurt/Main and Prof. Friedrich von Hausegger at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover as well as piano lessons with Professor Hans Landmann in Holzminden. In 1966 he began to study German language and literature and history of art at Vienna University and music at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst. Andreas Prohaska took singing lessons with Prof. Franz Schuch-Tovini. From 1968 he taught and directed as an assistant producer at the opera school and in 1969 he founded the New Mozart Studio Vienna. In the same year his first productions were staged. In 1970 Andreas Prohaska changed to the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Hannover, where he has singing lessons with Prof. Karl-Heinz Müller and classes in conducting, oratorio and lieder with GMD Prof. Felix Prohaska. He was also assistant producer at the opera school. In 1971 he took up a contract at the theatre in Kiel and moved in 1972 to Frankfurt/Main, where he worked as assistant producer, staff producer and lyric baritone under Christoph von Dohnányi and Gérard Mortier. From 1977-79 he was employed as head of production staff and guest baritone under Dr. Hanno Lunin at the theatre in Wuppertal. Subsequently he was opera director at the Ulm theatre under Dr. Volkmar Clauss. Since 1985 Andreas Prohaska has worked as a freelance producer. Besides his own productions and concerts, he has given courses, seminars, masterclasses and lectures at music colleges and universities in Britain and the USA on such topics as acting in opera, directing opera, dramaturgy, German lieder and oratorio. Andreas Prohaska has worked with Otto Schenk, Oskar Fritz Schuh, Hans Neugebauer, Hans-Peter Lehmann, Vaclav Kaslik, Filipo Sanjust, Hans Neuenfels, Karl-Michael Grueber, Volker Schloendorff, Achim Freyer, Peter Mussbach, Jean Pierre Ponelle, Hans Werner Henze, Ekkehard Grübler, Josef Svoboda, Carlo Franci, Alberto Erede and Giuseppe Patané. In 1973 he took up a teaching position for the opera class at the Academy in Mainz as well as at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Frankfurt/Main. Since 1992 Andreas Prohaska has been Professor of Music Theatre/Stage Direction at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin, and in 1998/99 he was a guest professor at Yale University, USA.