Claus Spahn

Biography

Claus Spahn is a German dramaturg, author and librettist. Since 2013, he has had a close artistic partnership with choreographer and director of the Zurich Ballet Christian Spuck, for whom he has worked on piece development and dramaturgy for the productions of Anna Karenina, Requiem, Nussknacker und Mausekönig, Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern.

Since 2012, Spahn has been chief dramaturge at the Zurich Opera House. There, his main interests are contemporary music, the Baroque opera repertoire and the development of new music-theatrical concepts. In the opera field, he has worked as a dramaturge for composers Heinz Holliger, Wolfgang Rihm and Helmut Lachenmann, among others, as well as for directors Sebastian Baumgarten, Herbert Fritsch, Jan-Philipp Gloger, Tatjana Gürbaca, Andreas Homoki, Barrie Kosky and David Marton.

Before moving to the Zurich Opera House, Claus Spahn worked as a journalist. He was editor at the German weekly Die Zeit for 14 years, where he was responsible for the music department. During his time as a freelance music journalist in the 1990s, he worked regularly for Bayerischer Rundfunk and Süddeutsche Zeitung, among others. Claus Spahn studied classical guitar in Freiburg im Breisgau.