Romeo und Julia

The internationally renowned choreographer Cathy Marston holds both British and Swiss citizenship. Since August 2023, she is the director of the Ballett Zürich. She received her dance training in Cambridge and at the Royal Ballet School in London. Between 1994 and 1999, she danced with Ballett Zürich, the Luzerner Theater Ballet, and Konzert Theater Bern. From 2002 to 2006, she was an Associate Artist at the Royal Opera House in London, and from 2007 to 2013, she served as ballet director at Konzert Theater Bern. Cathy Marston has been working as a highly successful freelance choreographer for many years and has been invited to work with numerous renowned international companies and institutions. She has created works, among others, for The Royal Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Ballet Black, the National Ballet of Cuba, as well as Opera Australia and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. In recent years, she has increasingly worked in the United States, with commissions for San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet Chicago. In her choreographic works, she brings major literary classics to life through dance, and approaches significant historical figures in unexpected and original ways. She achieved great success with her ballet adaptations "Mrs. Robinson" (Charles Webb), "Snowblind" (Ethan Frome), "Jane Eyre" (Charlotte Brontë), and "Of Mice and Men" (John Steinbeck). Unconventional perspectives also shape her biographically inspired works "The Cellist", "Victoria", and "Witch-Hunt". Cathy Marston has received multiple awards for her choreographic work, including a South Bank Sky Arts Award and the British National Dance Award. In 2020, the International Institute for Dance and Theatre honored her with an award for excellence in international dance. The highlight of her first season as director of Ballett Zürich was the 2024 world premiere of "Atonement", based on the novel of the same name by Ian McEwan (a co-production with Joffrey Ballet). In addition, her pieces "The Cellist" and "Snowblind" were performed in Zurich. In the previous season, her Clara Schumann ballet "Clara" premiered. In 2026, she will choreograph "Romeo and Juliet" for Ballett Zürich.

Gianandrea Noseda has been General Music Director of the Opernhaus Zurich since the 2021/22 season. He is also Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D. C.)  and Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. In 2019 he became the founding Music Director of the Tsinandali Festival and Pan-Caucasian Youth Orchestra in the village of Tsinandali, Georgia. Noseda’s leadership as Music Director of the Teatro Regio Torino from 2007–2018 transformed the opera house resulting in internationally acclaimed productions, tours, and recordings. Noseda has conducted the most important international orchestras (Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Concergetbouw Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic), opera houses (La Scala, Metropolitan Opera and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden) and festivals (BBC Proms, Edinburgh, Salzburg and Verbier). He has had significant roles at the BBC Philharmonic (Chief Conductor), Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (Principal Guest Conductor), Mariinsky Theatre (Principal Guest Conductor), Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (Victor de Sabata Chair), Rotterdam Philharmonic (Principal Guest Conductor) and Stresa Festival (Artistic Director). Gianandrea Noseda’s discography comprises more than 70 CDs; notable among them is the «Musica Italiana» Project, in which Noseda documents neglected Italian repertoire of the 20th century. Born in Milan, Noseda holds the honor of Commendatore al Merito della Repubblica Italiana. He was honored as Musical America’s Conductor of the Year in 2015 and named Conductor of the Year by the International Opera Awards in 2016.

The internationally renowned choreographer Cathy Marston holds both British and Swiss citizenship. Since August 2023, she is the director of the Ballett Zürich. She received her dance training in Cambridge and at the Royal Ballet School in London. Between 1994 and 1999, she danced with Ballett Zürich, the Luzerner Theater Ballet, and Konzert Theater Bern. From 2002 to 2006, she was an Associate Artist at the Royal Opera House in London, and from 2007 to 2013, she served as ballet director at Konzert Theater Bern. Cathy Marston has been working as a highly successful freelance choreographer for many years and has been invited to work with numerous renowned international companies and institutions. She has created works, among others, for The Royal Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Ballet Black, the National Ballet of Cuba, as well as Opera Australia and the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. In recent years, she has increasingly worked in the United States, with commissions for San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet Chicago. In her choreographic works, she brings major literary classics to life through dance, and approaches significant historical figures in unexpected and original ways. She achieved great success with her ballet adaptations "Mrs. Robinson" (Charles Webb), "Snowblind" (Ethan Frome), "Jane Eyre" (Charlotte Brontë), and "Of Mice and Men" (John Steinbeck). Unconventional perspectives also shape her biographically inspired works "The Cellist", "Victoria", and "Witch-Hunt". Cathy Marston has received multiple awards for her choreographic work, including a South Bank Sky Arts Award and the British National Dance Award. In 2020, the International Institute for Dance and Theatre honored her with an award for excellence in international dance. The highlight of her first season as director of Ballett Zürich was the 2024 world premiere of "Atonement", based on the novel of the same name by Ian McEwan (a co-production with Joffrey Ballet). In addition, her pieces "The Cellist" and "Snowblind" were performed in Zurich. In the previous season, her Clara Schumann ballet "Clara" premiered. In 2026, she will choreograph "Romeo and Juliet" for Ballett Zürich.

Edward Kemp hat mit Cathy Marston bei über zwanzig Balletten zusammengearbeitet, da­run­ter sieben für das Bern Ballett. Zu den jüngs­ten Kooperationen gehören Sum­­mer & Smoke (Hou­ston/American Ballet Theatre), Of Mice and Men (Joff­rey), Mrs. Robinson (San Fran­cisco), The Cellist (Ro­yal Ballet), The Suit (Ballet Black), Lady Chat­ter­­ley’s Lover (Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal), Liaisons Dangereuses (Royal Danish Ballet) und ein Drehbuch für Disney +. Er hat Texte für Komponisten wie Sally Beamish, Victoria Bo­risova Ollas, Jason Carr, Tansy Davies, Terry Davies, Peter Eötvös, Stuart MacRae, Julian Philips und Gary Yershon verfasst.  Für die Büh­ne entstanden u. a. King James Bible (Na­tio­nal Theatre), The Mysteries (Royal Shakespeare Com­pany) sowie Dramatisierungen von Bulga­kows Meister und Margarita (Chichester/Com­plicite/Avignon), Lessings Nathan der Weise (Chichester/Off-Broadway/Shaw Festival) und Faulkners As I Lay Dying (Baton Rouge). Ausserdem übertrug er Werke von Brecht, Goldoni, Kleist, Lorca, Prokofjew, Molière, Racine und Sibelius und übersetzte Romane von Paul Auster, Eca De Queiros, Charles Dickens, Knut Hamsun, Ted Hughes, Salman Rushdie und WG Sebald. Er schrieb Dramen und Komödien für BBC Radio und führte Regie bei Theaterstücken und Musicals in Grossbritannien und in den USA, u. a. am National Theatre, Royal Court und Chichester, von Autoren von Gertrude Stein bis Shakespeare, Alan Bennett bis Stephen Sondheim. Von 2008 bis 2021 war er Direktor und Chief Executive der Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Heute ist er Chief Executive des Royal Literary Fund, der ältesten literarischen Wohltätigkeitsorganisation Grossbritannien. 

Martin Gebhardt war Lichtgestalter und Beleuchtungsmeister bei John Neumeiers Hamburg Ballett. Ab 2002 arbeitete er mit Heinz Spoerli und dem Ballett Zürich zusammen. Ballettpro­duk­­­tionen der bei­den Compagnien führten ihn an re­­­­nom­­­mierte Theater in Eu­ro­­pa, Asien und Amerika. Am Opernhaus Zürich schuf er das Lichtdesign für In­szenie­run­gen von Jürgen Flimm, David Alden, Jan Philipp Gloger, Grischa Asagaroff, Matthias Hartmann, David Pountney, Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier, Da­miano Mi­chie­­letto und Achim Freyer. Bei den Salzburger Festspielen kreierte er die Lichtgestaltung für La bohème und eine Neufassung von Spoerlis Der Tod und das Mädchen. Seit der Spielzeit 2012/13 ist Martin Gebhardt Leiter des Beleuchtungswesens am Opernhaus Zürich. Eine enge Zu­sam­men­arbeit verbindet ihn heute mit dem Cho­reo­grafen Christian Spuck (u.a. Win­ter­­reise, Nussknacker und Mause­könig, Messa da Requiem, Anna Karenina, Woy­zeck, Der Sandmann, Leonce und Lena, Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern). Er war ausserdem Lichtdesigner für die Choreografen Edward Clug (u.a. Strings, Le Sacre du printemps und Faust in Zürich), Alexei Ratmansky, Wayne McGregor, Marco Goecke, und Douglas Lee. Mit Christoph Mar­tha­ler und Anna Viebrock arbeitete er beim Händel-Abend Sale und Rossinis Il viaggio a Reims in Zürich sowie bei Lulu an der Hamburgischen Staatsoper zu­sam­men und mit Jossi Wieler und Sergio Morabito an der Oper Genf für Les Huguenots. 2023 gestaltete er das Licht für Spucks Ballett Bovary beim Staatsballett Berlin und 2024 Rossinis Tancredi an den Bregenzer Festspielen. Ausserdem war er Lichtdesigner bei Atonement von Cathy Marston am Opernhaus Zürich.

Edward Kemp hat mit Cathy Marston bei über zwanzig Balletten zusammengearbeitet, da­run­ter sieben für das Bern Ballett. Zu den jüngs­ten Kooperationen gehören Sum­­mer & Smoke (Hou­ston/American Ballet Theatre), Of Mice and Men (Joff­rey), Mrs. Robinson (San Fran­cisco), The Cellist (Ro­yal Ballet), The Suit (Ballet Black), Lady Chat­ter­­ley’s Lover (Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal), Liaisons Dangereuses (Royal Danish Ballet) und ein Drehbuch für Disney +. Er hat Texte für Komponisten wie Sally Beamish, Victoria Bo­risova Ollas, Jason Carr, Tansy Davies, Terry Davies, Peter Eötvös, Stuart MacRae, Julian Philips und Gary Yershon verfasst.  Für die Büh­ne entstanden u. a. King James Bible (Na­tio­nal Theatre), The Mysteries (Royal Shakespeare Com­pany) sowie Dramatisierungen von Bulga­kows Meister und Margarita (Chichester/Com­plicite/Avignon), Lessings Nathan der Weise (Chichester/Off-Broadway/Shaw Festival) und Faulkners As I Lay Dying (Baton Rouge). Ausserdem übertrug er Werke von Brecht, Goldoni, Kleist, Lorca, Prokofjew, Molière, Racine und Sibelius und übersetzte Romane von Paul Auster, Eca De Queiros, Charles Dickens, Knut Hamsun, Ted Hughes, Salman Rushdie und WG Sebald. Er schrieb Dramen und Komödien für BBC Radio und führte Regie bei Theaterstücken und Musicals in Grossbritannien und in den USA, u. a. am National Theatre, Royal Court und Chichester, von Autoren von Gertrude Stein bis Shakespeare, Alan Bennett bis Stephen Sondheim. Von 2008 bis 2021 war er Direktor und Chief Executive der Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). Heute ist er Chief Executive des Royal Literary Fund, der ältesten literarischen Wohltätigkeitsorganisation Grossbritannien. 

Michael Küster is from Germany. After studying German studies, art, and speech science at the University of Halle, he worked as a presenter, author, and speaker at various broadcasting stations in Germany. There, he hosted numerous classical music programs and live broadcasts of major concert events, including those from the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Semperoper Dresden, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
Since 2002, he has been a dramaturg at the Zurich Opera House, working with directors such as Matthias Hartmann, David Alden, Robert Carsen, Moshe Leiser/Patrice Caurier, Damiano Michieletto, David Pountney, Johannes Schaaf, and Graham Vick.
As dramaturg of Ballett Zürich, Michael Küster has collaborated since 2012 with Cathy Marston, Marco Goecke, Marcos Morau, Kim Brandstrup, Edward Clug, Alexei Ratmansky, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, and Hans van Manen. Together with Christian Spuck, he worked on productions including «Winterreise» («Prix Benois de la Danse»), «Romeo and Juliet», «Messa da Requiem», and «The Sleeping Beauty».
At La Scala in Milan, Michael Küster was dramaturg for Matthias Hartmann’s opera productions of «Der Freischütz», «Idomeneo», and «The Queen of Spades».