Julius Theodor Semmelmann

Julius Theodor Semmelmann studied stage and costume design with Hans Schavernoch at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. During his student years, he assisted Frank Philipp Schlößmann, Heike Scheele and Rebecca Ringst at Graz Opera, the Semperoper Dresden, Frankfurt Opera, the Munich State Opera and the Salzburg and Bayreuth Festivals, amongst others. He has supervised productions by Barrie Kosky, Stefan Herheim and Calixto Bieito.

His first own productions in Graz (Ravel's "L'enfant et les sortilèges", "L'heure espagnole" and Purcell's "King Arthur") were followed by Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann for Children" at Cologne Opera, Wagner's "Tannhäuser" at Saarbrücken State Theater and Verdi's "Rigoletto" at Krefeld Theater. During the 2017/18 season, he designed the stage for Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen für Kinder" at the Bayreuth Festival and the world premiere of Paulus Hochgatterer's "Böhm" at the Schauspielhaus Graz, as well as working at the Bregenz Festival, the Munich Residenztheater and the Vienna Burgtheater. In 2020 he designed the stage for Richard Strauss' "Salome" at the Theater an der Wien directed by Nikolaus Habjan and for Verdi's "Il trovatore" at the Staatstheater Saarbrücken directed by Tomo Sugao. This was followed by the world premiere of "Immer noch Loge" at the Bayreuth Festival, as well as Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann" at the Bremerhaven Theatre, Rossini's "Otello" and the world premiere of "Krabat" directed by Manuel Schmitt at the Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen in 2021. He was responsible for the design of "Die Lustige Witwe" at the Latvian National Opera in Riga and at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden in 2022, and for the stage design of Offenbach's "La Perichole" at the Theater an der Wien in 2023.

The 2023.24 season includes productions such as "Die Zauberflöte" at the Staatstheater Cottbus, "Lohengrin" at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden and "Salome" at the Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen. In May 2024, he makes his directorial debut at Theater Bremerhaven with "Der Rosenkavalier".