A New Ring for a New Era
We are incredibly excited to share the link for the latest episode of Entrepreneurial Realities, the podcast of the venture lab of the Munich technical university run by Seen and Heard International Munich correspondent Antoine Lévy-Leboyer!
Antoine spoke with Marcus Lobbes, the Director of the Academie for Theater and Digitality (click here) in Dortmund, who is taking on a groundbreaking new role. Marcus is the ‘Curator’ in charge of the next production of Wagner’s epic Ring cycle at the Bayreuther Festspiele next summer (click here).
This production is set to make history: it will be done with the support of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This use of AI is not only a first for Bayreuth but a first for the world of opera. It reinforces Wagner’s idea of Bayreuth as a place for ‘the artwork of the future’.
In this exclusive interview, Marcus details how his team is leveraging cutting-edge digital technology, including AI live prompting, to handle the ‘huge amount of material’ from 150 years of festival history and philosophical aspects of the Ring.
Marcus, whose background spans punk bands, opera singing, and 32 years as a stage director, discusses the ethics of using AI, the importance of ensuring content is created by the team or under common licenses, and how technology forces us to redefine the connection between humans and art.
The podcast is available on major podcast platforms:
On Spotify here.
On Apple Podcasts here.