Nomination in "Die Deutsche Bühne" for set and costume design in "Haus Wahnsinn"
Nomination in the season review of the theatre magazine "Die Deutsche Bühne" – which covers drama, musical theatre and dance – for a production by the Karlsruhe University of Music as part of the RIWA project, specifically for set and costume design by Alfonso Ibáñes, who also produced elaborate videos for "Haus Wahnsinn". “Haus Wahnsinn” was the centrepiece of the entire RIWA project, the university’s major musical theatre evening, which took place in the winter term of 2025–26: a specially developed new piece, a pastiche featuring music by Christoph Willibald Gluck (in Wagner’s arrangement), Gioachino Rossini, Wolfgang Rihm and, of course, Richard Wagner himself.
Alfonso Ibáñez, born in Mexico in 1994, is an interdisciplinary artist whose journey took him from the violin and piano to the visual arts. His musical training began in the Veracruz State Youth Orchestra and continued at the Richard Wagner Conservatoire in Vienna. This musical knowledge feeds directly into his theatrical and visual works. After many years’ experience in orchestras and as a répétiteur, he deepened his passion for opera and musical theatre whilst studying stage design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.
He made his debut as a set designer as part of RIWA26 with "Haus Wahnsinn" at the Karlsruhe University of Music, for which he was mentioned in the critics’ poll in the season review of the trade magazine "Die Deutsche Bühne". This was shortly followed by the set design for the independent opera production "Bruchbild Anna" at the Musentempel in Karlsruhe. He currently works in Vienna and throughout the German-speaking world as a freelance set designer and assistant.
Nomination in "Die Deutsche Bühne" for opera director Rebecca Gärtner
Rebecca Gärtner, who completed her degree in musical theatre direction at the HfM Karlsruhe during the summer term, has been nominated in the season review of the theatre magazine for drama, musical theatre and dance, “Die Deutsche Bühne”, in the musical theatre category for her direction of a production by the Junges Kollektiv Musiktheater (JKMT) in April 2026: her own adaptation of Gioachino Rossini’s “L’occasione fa il ladro”, entitled “Gelegenheit macht Liebe” and subtitled “Dating opera in one act”.
Rebecca Gärtner gained her first experience as an extra at the Hanover State Opera whilst still at school and appeared in several productions by the ‘Junge Oper’ and ‘Junges Schauspiel’ in Hanover. After completing her A-levels, she undertook various work placements in the opera department. She has also been playing the harp since the age of seven.
After spending a year studying musicology and Italian at Halle/Saale, she worked for three years as an assistant director at the Schleswig-Holstein State Theatre in Flensburg, where she assisted with productions by directors such as Roland Hüve, Kornelia Repschläger, Peter Lund, Hendrik Müller and Matthias Remus. It was there that she also directed her first production, the touring children’s opera *Gold!* by Leonard Evers.
From the winter semester of 2022 to the summer semester of 2026, Rebecca Gärtner studied musical theatre directing at the Karlsruhe University of Music. She created the musical concept for the production *Fräulein Else* at the Frankfurt LAB. During her studies, she directed *Così fan tutte* and *Polnische Hochzeit* (with the Junges Kollektiv MusikTheater e.V.) and co-directed the world premiere of *HOW TO DIE IN 29 MINUTES* at the Staatstheater Kassel.
Since this autumn, Rebecca Gärtner has been working as an assistant director at the Staatsoperette Dresden.