Hinterhäuser is out as Salzburg Festival artistic director after a decade in the influential role

The Salzburg Festival and artistic director Markus Hinterhäuser are parting ways, cutting short what had been shaping up as a long run. On Thursday, the festival’s supervisory board said both sides agreed to split “effective immediately” after irreconcilable differences. The board said lawyers for both sides met to settle the break. Hinterhäuser, an Austrian pianist, has led the festival since 2016 and had a renewed term approved in 2024. He will be on leave until his contract ends in September. The board said it will appoint a provisional artistic director “without delay” and said conversations with potential candidates had begun.