Danube Festival Weeks: Norbert Trauger follows Mitsche Gaig as director

Norbert Trauger will take over the direction of the Danube Festival Weeks in Strudingau from 2025. Michi Gaigg will direct the 30th season this year from July 26 to August 15.

Strudingau. Norbert Trauger will take over the management of the Danube Festival Weeks in Strudingau from 2025. The Upper Austrian, known in different contexts, follows Mitsche Geig, who has shaped the early music festival since 2003. After this year's anniversary edition – the 30th season will be celebrated from July 26 to August 15, 2024 – the long-time director wants to make room for new things. At a press conference, Norbert Trauger was introduced in his new role by Walter Edtbauer, chairman of the Donauland-Strudingau Cultural Forum, together with state governor Thomas Stelzer in the presence of Mitsche Geig.

“For me, the Danube Festival Weeks in Strudengau have always been musical events with a special programme, which have become a reality for all of us by inspiring people with an unprecedented sense of possibility in the magical spaces of Strudengau. Michi Gaige is one of my musical heroes. Following her is an honour, a mission and a joy all at the same time. May this spirit continue to keep ears pricked, eyes open and hearts beating with delight!”
Norbert Trauger, future director of the Danube Festival

“After the 30th season of the Danube Festival Weeks in Strudengau, I would like to make room for new things and would like to thank our audience and the wonderful team, especially our chairman Walter Edtbauer, for their loyalty and continuous support. I sincerely hope that the festival with Norbert Trauger will continue to be curious, open-minded and eager to discover unknown worlds from the past and present and to create many moving and unforgettable moments,” says Mitsche Geig.

The “driving force” of the Danube Festival weeks begins in the anniversary season

“For 22 years, director Mischi Gaige has been the leading figure and driving force of the Danube Festival Weeks in Strudengau. We owe him a lot, unforgettable performances and impressive artistic and human encounters – the anticipation for the 30th edition of the festival, which is about to begin, is fantastic!”, says Walter Edtbauer, Chairman of Kulturforum Donauland-Strudengau. “With Norbert Trauger we have found an artist who is grounded and full of ideas. He knows the cultural landscape from many perspectives and has good contacts both inside and outside Austria. Norbert Trauger has always recognized and appreciated the spirit of the Danube Festival Weeks. We trust him to uphold the principles of making high-quality, pure and tangible art for the public. We are also looking forward to new ideas that we will implement together from 2025 onwards,” says Edtbauer.

“The Danube Festival Weeks in Strudingau are an important pillar of the Upper Austrian cultural summer programme. They combine everything that defines art and culture in our country: outstanding quality, a programme that creates highlights with sensitivity and location sensitivity, and a committed team that does a great job. We all owe an extraordinary debt of gratitude to Mishti Gaige for what she has initiated and developed here over the past 22 years. Under her leadership, the Danube Festival Weeks have become what they are today. At the same time, we are pleased that with Norbert Trauger at the helm from 2025 onwards, a good path into the future has been secured.
Governor Thomas Stelzer

About Norbert Trauger

Norbert Trauger is artistic director of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and artistic director of Upper Austria’s first cultural exhibition “Anton Bruckner 2024”. He is responsible for the programmatic direction and implementation of this unique year-round format, which animates the entire Upper Austrian region with an unparalleled cultural and artistic diversity and abundance. From 2013 to 2023 he was director of the Kepler Salon. Trauger comes from a family where Franz Schubert was a guest in Gmunden in 1825 “with all his shyness, as if he were at home” (quote from Schubert’s letter to his parents). He studied flute at the music colleges in Vienna, Gothenburg and Graz and completed the renowned music course “Executive Master in Arts Management” at the University of Zurich. In 2010 he published a biography of the composer Baldwin Sulzer, in 2022 his article “Game” and in the spring of 2024 the much-discussed Residenz Verlag magazine published his passion “Bruckner!” More about Norbert Trauger www.eNTe.me