Rolando Villazón (*1972) is probably one of the most spirited opera singers and directors of our time. The Mexican-born singer became known to a worldwide audience in 2005 with his role as Alfredo Germont alongside Anna Netrebko in "La traviata" at the Salzburg Festival.The tenor began his international career in 1999 with his European debut in Genoa as Des Grieux in Jules Massenet’s Manon. This was followed by further successful performances at some of the world’s great opera houses, including the Opéra Bastille Paris, the Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera and the New York Met. His roles include classics such as Rodolfo (La Bohème), Alfredo (La traviata), Roméo (Roméo et Juliette) and Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor).After vocal cord problems and a corresponding operation, Villazón returned to the stage in March 2010 and debuted as an opera director at the Opéra de Lyon one year later with a production of Jules Massenet’s Werther. The versatile artist, who is also active as a writer and presenter, has been the artistic director of the Mozartwoche Salzburg since 2017.Rolando Villazón has had French citizenship since 2007, is married and has two sons.

Born in Russia in 1987 and raised in Germany, Igor Levit studied piano at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hanover and now lives in Berlin. The master pianist focuses primarily on Beethoven’s works, both on stage and in his CD recordings - his highly acclaimed recording of Beethoven’s complete 32 piano sonatas is the most recent proof of this.Levit performs worldwide with renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic, in addition to his solo recitals.In 2019, Levit accepted a professorship for piano at his former training center in Hanover in order to pass on his experience to the next generation of artists.For his socio-political commitment, Igor Levit was awarded the International Beethoven Prize in 2019 and the Federal Cross of Merit by German President Steinmeier in 2020.