Ferdinand Wögerbauer
Biography
Born in Salzburg Austria, Ferdinand Wögerbauer began his formal education in sculpture and continued his studies in set and costume design at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Early in his career, he assisted renowned designers - J. Rose, R. Glittenberg, and D. Fotopoulos, gaining invaluable experience that shaped his approach to stage design.
Since 1985, until May 2003, he was a regular contributor to the Salzburg Festival, serving as assistant designer, deputy head of design, and later as head of design.
His creative work spans multiple media, including stone, wood, paper, and mural painting. He has also taught as a lecturer at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Lecce and Urbino.
He has been involved in numerous exhibition designs at the Salzburg Festival, and gallery projects such as Galerie The Only One in Rohrbach, , and group exhibitions like Bild und Szene 5 in Meiningen. He also contributed to the 2020 Landesausstellung celebrating 100 years of the Salzburg Festival.
In production management, he has worked on events including the Salzburg Easter Festival at the Edinburgh International Festival, at the Opera in Lyon, and contributed to Salzburg Festival productions after 2004 until 2024, as well as international tours to Tokyo, Tel Aviv.
His extensive stage design work encompasses opera, theater, and ballet, collaborating with acclaimed directors and choreographers such as Achim Benning, Jürgen Flimm, Klaus Metzger, Andrea Moses, Christian Nickel, Peter Stein, Bob Swaim, Stefano Vizioli, and Stephen Wadsworth. Productions include classics such as Alpenkönig und Menschenfeind, Faust 1, Wallenstein Trilogy, I Demoni, Troilus and Cressida, Zio Vanja, Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin, Macbeth, Věc Makropulos, Jenufa, Die Zauberflöte, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Damnation De Faust, Boris Godunow, Don Carlos, and numerous contemporary premieres and international collaborations across major venues from Hamburg, Berlin, Wien, Milan, Rome, Paris, Moscow, London, Lyon, Helsinki, Zürich, Athens, Warszawa, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York to Salzburg, and Edinburgh.
With John Neumeier (Hamburg Ballet) he is associated with the work on, Messiah, Orpheus, Weihnachtsoratorium I–III, Weihnachtsoratorium IV–VI and Liliom.
Recognized for his visionary designs, he has received multiple awards, including the Premio Le Maschere del Teatro Italiano for Best Scenographer, and has been repeatedly nominated for the Golden Mask.