Geneva’s Alain Perroux takes over the management of the Grand Théâtre in 2026
Published: Wednesday, Nov 22nd 2023, 16:30
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Born in Geneva in 1971, Alain Perroux will be the next General Director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève. He will take up his post in July 2026, succeeding Aviel Cahn from Zurich, who is moving to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Artistic Director.
Alain Perroux, born in Geneva in 1971, has prevailed against four female and 25 male candidates in the application process. Xavier Oberson, President of the Board of Trustees of the Grand Théâtre de Genève, made the announcement to the media on Wednesday. The future head of the Geneva opera institution is already familiar with the house; he worked there as dramaturge from 2001 to 2009.
The Grand Théâtre works with top-class, world-renowned personalities, said Perroux. As the future General Director, he wants to free the venerable institution of opera in Geneva from the cliché of being elitist and open up the house. With the program, he wants to ensure a diverse offering in terms of the works performed and the artists appearing, he said.
Start as a music journalist
Perroux began his career as a music journalist at the "Journal de Genève" and "Le Temps". After working as a dramaturge at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, he moved to the south of France, where he directed the Aix-en-Provence Festival from 2009 to 2020. He then took over as director of the Opéra du Rhin in Alsace.
Aviel Cahn will continue to be responsible for the next two seasons until Perroux takes up his post in Geneva. Last February, it was announced that Zurich-born Cahn will become Artistic Director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from August 2023. He will thus head the largest opera house in the German capital. He has been at the helm of the Grand Théâtre in Geneva for around four years and his contract would have actually run until 2029.
Cahn's theater career has taken him from Zurich via Beijing, Helsinki and Bern to Belgium. In Geneva, he has repeatedly caused a stir with big names in the theater industry, but also by hiring Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo and Oscar winner Christoph Waltz as directors and the artist Marina Abramovic for stage design.
©Keystone/SDA
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