Dennis Krauß awarded European Opera Directing Prize
Director, stage and costume designer and Eisler graduate Dennis Krauß was awarded the 14th European Opera Directing Prize (EOP) in October at the Opera Europa Autumn Conference in Geneva. Together with choreographer Maria O'Herce, his concept for Jacques Offenbach's ‘The Tales of Hoffmann’ prevailed over a total of 92 entries from 34 countries. The final round took place at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. The award-winning production by Dennis Krauß and Maria O'Herce will be performed at the Hessian State Theatre in Wiesbaden during the 2026/27 season.
Dennis Krauß, born in Berlin in 1991, studied opera direction at the Eisler from 2019 to 2024. After working as an assistant at the Schauspiel Frankfurt and the Berliner Ensemble, among others, he spent several years working in the team of director Ulrich Rasche at renowned theatres such as the Residenztheater Munich, the Burgtheater Vienna, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Salzburg Festival. He gained national attention with the production ‘Tristan und Isolde für Kinder’ (Tristan and Isolde for Children) at the Bayreuth Festival in 2021, which was revived at the Tokyo Spring Festival in Japan in 2024. In 2022, he made his debut as a director and set designer with Britten's ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ at the Theater Aachen. This was followed by engagements in Krefeld-Mönchengladbach, Chemnitz, Regensburg and Osnabrück, as well as a nomination for the German Theatre Prize DER FAUST in the category of opera direction. During the 2025/26 season, he will stage La Bohème at Theater Krefeld and Don Giovanni at Theater Chemnitz, among other productions.
The European Opera Directing Prize (EOP) is an international competition for young opera directors, founded in 2000 by the Wiesbaden-based association Camerata Nuova e.V. and held every two years in cooperation with Opera Europa, a service organisation for professional opera companies and opera festivals throughout Europe. The aim is to promote outstanding directing talent through visibility, networking and a directing engagement at a European opera house.