Artistic Director
The appointment of KS Michael Schade O.C. as Artistic Director was highly gratifying for the International Baroque Days for many reasons due to his biography and worldwide network.
The versatile Kammersänger is closely related to the tradition of the venerable festival: the appreciation of the extraordinary genius loci of the world cultural heritage of Melk Abbey, the claim to present musical sensory worlds at the highest level, as well as the heartfelt commitment to the promotion of emerging talents are shaped by his visions.
Michael Schade also has a profound personal relationship with Melk Abbey.
"In Advent 2001, I was lucky enough to enter Melk Abbey for the first time during rehearsals for Handel's ‘Alexander's Feast’. The concert was then performed on 7 December under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus - it was one of the most beautiful concert experiences of my career. Not only the opulent baroque beauty of the abbey, the immediate and unavoidable aspiration of one's heart to look from earth to heaven made this concert experience a highlight, but also the personal encounter with the Benedictine abbey and its hospitality."