Press Kit: General and Artistic Director

Christoph Lieben-Seutter was appointed General and Artistic Director of the Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle Hamburg on 1 September 2007. Born in Vienna in 1964, he worked in the computer industry for a number of years after leaving school. In 1988 he was hired by Alexander Pereira as Management Assistant at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, where he subsequently became Chief Operating Officer in 1991. In 1993, when Pereira left to take on the role as Director of the Zurich Opera House, Lieben-Seutter followed him as his Executive Assistant, before being asked back to Vienna in 1996 to become Director of the Wiener Konzerthaus Society and the Wien Modern festival. For the following 11 years Lieben-Seutter was responsible for 400 events per season, during which time he was able to engage new audience segments and help the Wiener Konzerthaus acquire a lasting reputation as one of the leading international classical music organisations.

Nearly 10 years after first taking office in Hamburg, Lieben-Seutter was able to celebrate the official opening of the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg on 11 January 2017, which was originally planned for 2010. Lieben-Seutter used the delay in many ways. He gave substantive impulses for the creation of the Elbphilharmonie, consolidated the profile of the Laeiszhalle with its own events, contributed significantly to the amicable interrelation between the players of the local event scene and ensured with the introduction of the »Elbphilharmonie Konzerte« at many venues in the city the implementation of the versatile programmatic approach of the Elbphilharmonie. Lieben-Seutter initiated the »Hamburg International Music Festival«, which, after two editions in 2014 and 2016, is presented on an annual basis since 2018.

In spring 2022, Lieben-Seutter’s contract as General and Artistic Director of the Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle Hamburg was extended until summer 2029.

He is married and the father of three children.