The Board of the Salzburg Festival has voted unanimously to appoint the German/Swiss Kristina Hammer as new president of the Salzburg Festival, starting on 1 January 2022, with a five-year contract running through 31 December 2026.
The Board thanked Helga Rabl-Stadler for her unprecedented record of service through 27 years as Festival president. Altogether, 32 candidates had applied to succeed her.
Kristina Hammer has been the owner of the strategic brand consultancy HammerSolutions in Zurich for more than ten years. She previously held international operative management positions in Germany, England and Austria for fifteen years. Since 2019 she has served as a board member of the Friends of the Zurich Opera, where she is responsible for marketing and communication.