Robert Simma, Head of Artistic Management
Lecturer for Music Drama Basic Training
simma@mdw.ac.at

Rober Simma was born in Vienna. After initial studies of theater and musicology, he turned to musical theater direction and graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Since then he has worked as a freelance director. In addition to projects in and around Vienna (Traismauer, Krems, Baden, Oberschützen, Eisenstadt, Mödling, Jennersdorf etc.) directorial work took him to Helsinki, Tokyo, Pozzuolo, Pordenone, Krakow.

For the past eleven years he has staged opera productions at the festival all children J: Opera Jennersdorf including; Cosi fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, The Abduction from the Seraglio, Djamileh, La Serva Padrona, Il Segreto di Susanna, Zanetto, Die Fledermaus, Chief Evening Wind, Salon Pitzelberger, The Merry Widow, L'Infedeltà delusa, La Cenerentola, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Gianni Schicchi, Rigoletto, Ernani, Hansel and Gretel, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Rusalka, World premiere Der Lachschrittmacher, World Premiere Der Schlüssel zur Musik, Der gestiefelte Kater, Cendrillion, etc .

Since 1986 Robert Simma is head of the artistic administration office at the Department of voice and musical theater at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

His educational activities include a lectureship in Basic Musical-Dramatic training at the Institute of voice and musical theater, as well as the management of the course for opera and operetta at the Kunst-Volkshochschule in Vienna. In 2011 he also held a visiting professorship for Music Dramatic Presentation at the Institute of voice and musical theater. Since autumn 2014 he has a lectureship in music dramatic presentation at the Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität.

In 2005 he founded the JOA – Junge Oper Austria (Young Opera Austria) to promote young singers and up an coming talents. In 2011 he received an award from the Province of Burgenland for his successful work in the field of children's opera. In 2012 he founded the Festival "Opera Schloss Rohrau" with performances of Haydn's opera L'Isola disabitata. Upcoming projects include productions of The Magic Flute, Hansel and Gretel and Il Mondo della luna