Markus Hinterhäuser

Markus Hinterhäuser was born in La Spezia, Italy. He studied piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, and in masterclasses with, among others, Elisabeth Leonskaja and Oleg Maisenberg. As a pianist he performed solo and in chamber concerts, among others at Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, Wien Modern, the Festival d’Automne, the Holland Festival, and the Berlin Festival.

In the field of song interpretation, his long-standing collaboration with Brigitte Fassbaender deserves special mention. With baritone Matthias Goerne, he toured worldwide from 2014 with Schubert’s Winterreise directed by William Kentridge. He also contributed to music theatre productions by Johan Simons, Christoph Marthaler, and Klaus Michael Grüber.

In contemporary music, he is particularly committed to works by Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Morton Feldman, György Ligeti, and Galina Ustvolskaja. In addition to radio and television recordings, he recorded the complete piano works of Arnold Schönberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern as well as compositions by Feldman, Nono, Scelsi, Ustvolskaja, and John Cage. From 2007 to 2011 he was responsible for the concert program of the Salzburg Festival, and in 2011 he led the season as Intendant. From 2014 to 2016 he was artistic director of the Vienna Festival. Since October 2016 Markus Hinterhäuser has been Intendant and Artistic Director of the Salzburg Festival.