Polish stage director Krystian Lada is establishing himself as one of the major artists of his generation. He is the first recipient of the “Mortier Next Generation Award” and he was a finalist and prizewinner in the 2021 Ring Award.

Krystian’s current and future commitments include a new production of Les contes d’Hoffmann for Göteborg Opera; a staging of Verdi’s Requiem for Theater St Gallen, where he will also direct the World Premiere of Tobias Picker’s new opera Lilli Elbe (based on the award-winning movie and book: The Danish Girl); he will present his Opera Installation Aria di Potenza at the International Theatre of Amsterdam and he will devise, direct and design a new pastiche based on the early Verdi operas entitled Nostalgia e Rivoluzione for La Monnaie, Brussels.

Krystian’s recent productions have included Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria for Theater Basel; Vivaldi’s Bajazet for Theater an der Wien; Daniel Catán’s Florencia en al Amazonas for Theater St Gallen; Nabucco and I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Opera Wroclaw; Rossini’s Sigismondo for the Opera Rara Festival, Krakow and The Mysteries of Desire - a pastiche - which he created for the Royal Danish Opera, in collaboration with the World Pride Festival.

With composer Iain Bell, Krystian is creating a trilogy of one-act monodramas inspired by LGBTQI+ stories: Comfort Starving, The Man with Night Sweats and the final monodrama: Gay: Seen will be premiered in 2023.

Krystian was the Director of Dramaturgy, Communication and Empowerment, and Artistic Adjunct at La Monnaie, Brussels between 2013-17, and since May 2017, he has been General and Artistic Director of The Airport Society: a Brussels-based cooperative of opera artists and social game changers, and for the company he has directed an developed the Premieres of Aria di Potenza and Unknown I Live with You.

Biography not for publication, for an up to date version please contact Oliver Clarke.