Inge Ceustermans

General director of The Festival Academy

Ceustermans has a master degree in languages and literature with a specialisation in theatre sciences. She was the general manager for the Brussels based artists’ company Needcompany under the artistic direction of Jan Lauwers from 2003-2012 before she starts working for the European Festivals Association (EFA), a network organisation of more than 80 festivals in Europe and beyond. Apart from this, she is consulting different artists on their general strategy and international relations. She is also a member of the advisory committee for the Agency of Arts and Heritage in Flanders. She oversees and manages the international network of worldwide curators and cross-sector experts.

Christoph Dittrich

General Director of the Städtische Theater Chemnitz

Dittrich studied tuba and singing, pedagogy and musical sciences in Dresden from 1986-1991. From 1991, he worked as a musician and dramaturgical assistant at the Elbland Philharmonie Sachsen and was appointed artistic director of the Ensemble in 2002. Since the 2013/2014 , Christoph Dittrich has been General Director of Städtische Theater Chemnitz GmbH. The concept of the production of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen by four female directors in 2018, which was crowned by the prestigious German Theatre Prize “Der Faust” for Elisabeth Stöppler and her direction of “Götterdämmerung”, received outstanding recognition. Another focus of the theatre's work is cultural education, including a partner school concept, and its connection to the city's society.

Stefan Schmidtke

CEO, Program Director European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025

Studied directing at the Russian Theatre Academy RATI-GITIS in Moscow from 1992 to 1996. From 2011 to 2014, Schmidtke worked as head dramaturge at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus under Staffan Valdemar Holm. He was then acting director and chief dramaturge at the Wiener Festwochen under artistic director Markus Hinterhäuser from 2014 to 2026. From 2016 to 2018, he built up the structure of the program and event area for the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. In 2020, Stefan Schmidtke took over as Artistic Director of the Theater der Welt festival in Düsseldorf. Since 2021, he has been the CEO and Program Director of European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 GmbH.