Baritone Thomas Schütz performs in the fields of opera, concert and Lied, being sought after by venues such as the the Philharmonie Essen, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Prinzregententheater München etc. In 2023 he gave his debut at the Berliner Philharmonie in the 6. Symphony of contemporary composer P.M. Hamel. He is consultant (since 2018) and member of the Management Board (since 2022) at the Internationale Stiftung zur Förderung von Kultur und Zivilisation in Munich. In September 2023 he took over leadership from Guy Joosten at the International Opera Academy Ghent as Artistic Pedagogical Manager.

The public and media knows Thomas as a versatile artist and especially recognizes his Lied interpretations, which have been recorded for the labels Carus and WDR. In London he was awarded the Paul Hamburger Lied Prize and was welcomed to the Young Song Makers Almanac. In selected formats (occasionally chamber music) he performs essential opera roles, such as Germont in La Traviata by G. Verdi (2023), Conte Almaviva in W.A. Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (2022), the title role in W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni (2019), Conte Almaviva in G. Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (2018), Malatesta in G. Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (2017), Escamillo in G. Bizet’s Carmen (2016) and Moritz in B. Merniers contemporary opera Frühlingserwachen (2015).

Thomas Schütz hails from the alpine foothills in Germany. After many years playing the piano as his main instrument, he subsequently studied singing and music pedagogy at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama London, before becoming a Laureat of the International Opera Academy Ghent. He received a scholarship by Yehudi Menuhins Live Music Now and a Fellowship of the GSMD in London.

His teachers are Christoph Prégardien, Charlotte Margiono and Matthias Goerne.

foto: Richard Schabetsberger

Jannah Van Nevel (1988) graduated as a master in Cultural Management at the University of Antwerp (UA) in 2012. Immediately afterwards, she began working at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in the fields of artistic planning and communication. In addition, she was coordinator of the children’s choir within OBV’s music department.

In 2017, Jannah joined the International Opera Academy as artistic coordinator. In this function, she coordinated the IOA’s financial management, planning, personnel administration, contracts, project follow-up, communication strategy, IT management and digitalization.

From October 2023 onwards, Jannah is the IOA’s Business Manager, joining Thomas Schütz as the new leading team at the IOA.

Hein Boterberg is Head of Music and repertoire coach at the IOA and works as a visiting vocal coach at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (UK). He is also an acclaimed accompanist for song recitals.

He studied at the Conservatoire in his birth city of Ghent. At the Royal Scottish Academy and the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama he specialised in singing accompaniment. He was also holder of the Geoffrey Parsons Junior fellowship at the Royal College of Music.

In de Munt | la Monnaie in Brussels, he assisted Antonio Pappano and Renato Balsadonna and worked in productions with singers such as Susan Graham, José van Dam, Jonas Kaufmann and Joseph Calleja. He has also played for conductors such as Kazushi Ono and Alessandro de Marchi. In addition to this, he has worked with singers for the Filharmonie, the Flemish Radio Choir, the Flemish Opera, Covent Garden, the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and the Collegium Vocale, Ghent.

In song recitals he has played in Europe, Asia and Australia in venues such as the Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room in London, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and many more, for singers such as Sophie Karthäuser, Christian Immler, Malin Christensson, and Jonathan Lemalu. In 2006 he started the recital series Vocal Journey, for which he devised and played concerts with young singers from all over the world.

He was coach and pianist for singing courses in the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Portugal and France. He was official accompanist for vocal masterclasses by Sir Thomas Allen, Robin Bowman, Emma Kirkby, Ann Murray, Loh Siew-Tuan, Graham Johnson and Dame Margaret Price.