The Executive Board of the Gran Teatre del Liceu has approved the renewal of Víctor Garcia de Gomar’s contract as Artistic Director through July 2031, strengthening the stability and success of the current project. The new period consolidates the Liceu as a 21st-century theatre, with an ambitious, open and international artistic vision, and coincides with the tenure of Music Director Jonathan Nott and the momentum of the future Liceu Mar.
Today, at the Executive Committee meeting chaired by Salvador Alemany, and at the request of the President and General Director Valentí Oviedo, the second term of the current Artistic Director of the Liceu, Víctor Garcia de Gomar, has been approved. This new term will begin with his renewal and will run through the end of the 2030/31 season. The artistic project launched with De Gomar’s arrival in 2019 is currently enjoying a period of stability and success, marked by milestones such as Lise Davidsen’s world debut as Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), the success of Akhnaten by Philip Glass, and the upcoming premiere of Balkan Erotic Epic by performer Marina Abramović.
Over the past six years, Víctor Garcia de Gomar has developed an artistic vision at the Gran Teatre del Liceu that has consolidated the Theatre as a centre for the arts, open to contemporary thought and committed to reimagining 21st-century opera.
This period has been defined by a strong commitment to new productions, contemporary creation, the recovery of musical heritage, ongoing dialogue with other artistic disciplines, and the consolidation of the Liceu as a theatre of voices, featuring leading international singers.
This vision has taken shape through close collaboration with leading visual artists, bringing new languages to the operatic stage. Productions such as Wozzeck by Berg with William Kentridge, Macbeth by Verdi staged by Jaume Plensa, 7 Deaths of Maria Callas and Balkan Erotic Epic with Marina Abramović, the dialogue between Antonio López’s work and Schubert’s Winterreise, as well as an artistic intervention in the Foyer by G. Richter, exemplify an approach that understands opera as a space where tradition and contemporaneity, emotion and aesthetic reflection converge. During the pandemic, the Liceu presented the Concert pel Biocè, a powerful symbolic action conceived by artist Eugenio Ampudia, in which 2,292 plants filled the auditorium as the audience.
The Liceu has hosted world premieres such as Alexina B. by Raquel García-Tomás and Benjamin a Portbou by Antoni Ros-Marbà, as well as internationally acclaimed productions including Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovich, directed by Àlex Ollé, and Mozart’s Requiem staged by Romeo Castellucci. These achievements are joined by international co-productions such as the European premiere of Antony & Cleopatra by John Adams, Orgia by Hèctor Parra, and historic moments like the Liceu Orchestra’s debut at the Opéra de Paris with Bluebeard’s Castle by Bartók.
The project has also fostered a new generation of leading international singers, including Lise Davidsen, Nadine Sierra, Lisette Oropesa, Xabier Anduaga, Sara Blanch, Serena Sáenz, Carles Pachon and Saioa Hernández, while creating new opportunities for composers and creative teams. Notably, the Òh!pera project, developed with Àlex Ollé, supports emerging operatic creation.
Musically, the Liceu has welcomed major conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Marc Minkowski, Susanna Mälkki and Giovanni Antonini, further strengthening its artistic excellence.
At the same time, the Gran Teatre del Liceu has expanded its role as a platform for visual and exhibition-based creation, featuring artists such as Antonio López, Chiharu Shiota, Okuda San Miguel, Eulàlia Valldosera, William Kentridge, Antoni Tàpies and the duo Lolo & Sosaku, among others.
The new artistic phase coincides with the start of Jonathan Nott’s tenure as Music Director, with Josep Pons as Honorary Conductor, reinforcing the development of the Liceu Chorus and Orchestra.
The artistic project is inseparable from the Liceu’s educational and social mission, developed in close collaboration with the General Management led by Valentí Oviedo.
Within this framework, Liceu OPERA+, the Theatre’s audiovisual platform under the artistic direction of Igor Cortadellas, offers a living digital season aligned with the stage activity.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu reaffirms its commitment to consolidating its artistic standards and international profile. The third term of Víctor Garcia de Gomar will culminate with the planned inauguration of the Theatre’s new venue, the Liceu Mar, currently in the international ideas competition phase.