Prof. Dr. Stephan Mösch is Professor of Aesthetics, History and Artistic Practice of Music Theatre at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. He is a member of the Deutsche Akademie der Darstellenden Künste, writes for the cultural pages of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and regularly contributes to broadcasters within the ARD network. He also serves on juries for numerous competitions in singing, directing, and stage design, as well as for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
At Karlsruhe University of Music, he initiated the five-year research project »RIWA 26« (2021–2026), conceived in anticipation of the 150th anniversary of the Bayreuth Festival. The project explores the intersection of scholarly and artistic research (riwa26.de).
Stephan Mösch earned his doctorate at the Technische Universität Berlin with a dissertation on Boris Blacher. His habilitation thesis Weihe, Werkstatt, Wirklichkeit. Wagners ›Parsifal‹ in Bayreuth 1882–1933 received multiple awards and will appear in its third edition in 2026. As a university lecturer in both academic and artistic fields, he was part of the inaugural faculty of the Executive Master in Arts Administration program at the University of Zurich.
He has also taught at the Universität der Künste Berlin, the Kunstuniversität Graz, the Philipps-Universität Marburg, and universities in Vienna, as well as at the Weimar Masterclasses, the Korea National University of Arts in Seoul, and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
From 1994 to 2013, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Opernwelt (Berlin), reporting on world premieres, festivals, and new productions on five continents. His forthcoming book Bayreuth als Theater. Auf dem Weg zu einer Festspielgeschichte will be published in spring 2026 by Bärenreiter / J.B. Metzler.
Other book publications include Komponieren für Stimme. Von Monteverdi bis Rihm (2nd ed., 2018); »Es gibt nichts Ewiges«. Wieland Wagner: Ästhetik, Zeitgeschichte, Wirkung (2019); »Weil jede Note zählt«. Mozart interpretieren. Gespräche und Essays (2020); and Wieviel Mozart braucht der Mensch? Musik im Wertewandel (2022).
Here is what he says about DEBUT:
“At the DEBUT competition the jury truly engages with the performances of the participants and discusses them openly. That makes the process exciting for us as jury members as well. It is about arguments and artistic reasoning, not simply about opinions. In many other competitions jurors anonymously submit numbers and in the end mathematics decides the outcome. That is something I no longer wish to take part in. At DEBUT, however, I gladly do. One reason is the central role of contemporary music. Every young singer should engage with the music of their own time – it is through this encounter that artists grow. DEBUT encourages exactly that and helps participants discover something about themselves as artists. A few standard arias will not suffice here – and that is a good thing. Clarry Bartha has shaped the competition with remarkable artistic breadth and linked it to the standards required in theatre and concert life. DEBUT is not simply a parade of beautiful voices or a showcase of vanity, but an encouragement for the artistic personalities of the next generation who truly have something to say.”
